Pokemon RED - Mind and Earth
by Mystickenji
Summary: "Novelization" of FRLG: A young boy leaves his home to go on a journey - to defeat the Kanto League and become the Pokémon Champion!
1. 21st Century Trainer Man

This was it. It had come down to just their final two Pokemon. The boy and the elite glared intensely at each other, each sensing that the end would be near but not wanting to be the one to fall. They judged each other through what they saw: the boy what he wanted to become, the fourth another worthy opponent. But even so, there could only be one winner.

Their partners sensed this too, an even odder pair staring each other down, but with no less intensity. On the boy's side could be seen an orange-furred rodent, with a black tail that curved into a lightning bolt and ears in that same mold. On the man's side was a more fearsome creature, a wise orange dragon who stood upon his two feet, leaning over the much smaller electric rodent. The Raichu and Dragonite stood ready for the command to attack.

"Are you ready, Red?" called out the fourth, who stood tall as a lance despite the pressure he must have felt.

Red nodded.

"Then you must… wake up. Come back and face me in the real world."

Red blinked, surprised.

Suddenly he was staring at his ceiling, no longer in the Indigo Plateau. So, that was only a dream. He sighed. So disappointing… but he could hardly be blamed for his eagerness. Today, he was going to get his official trainer's license from Professor Oak (living next to a Pokemon lab helped) and begin his journey, which would end right where his dream took place.

But first, he had to get out of bed! If he wanted to get to Pewter City by nightfall, he wouldn't be able to put off leaving for too long. He sat up, surveying his room, littered with Pokemon paraphernalia. In the corner, sat his Nintendo Wii, which he promised his mom he'd move downstairs before he left. Sitting next to it is his backpack, filled with the things would need to carry along for his journey: a change of clothes, camping supplies, and the like.

Still next to that is his sleeping partner for this journey, a familiar yellow electric mouse.

"Hey Tesla! Wake up!" Red called out to his partner.

No response. Not even an involuntary twitch.

Red got up off of his bed, and began walking towards his partner, slowly.

"Hey…. Wake uuuuuuuuuup~."

Still nothing. He sighed, and then grinned. "Hehehehe…"

* * *

><p>Downstairs, a woman was sitting in what would soon become her living room alone. The room itself was not sparse, holding a couch (upon which the woman sat) and several chairs. There was also a television set, dated by current standards but still functional – there was no reason to get rid of it yet. A Gracidea-print rug took up the space on the floor where her son used to sit when the three of them (and sometimes Tesla) sat together to…<p>

Well, those days are gone. It's best not to fixate on them. So what was the woman doing this moment? Watching television and waiting. Mostly the second one. Soon, it'll be her alone here. But until the moment her son leaves and goes off to follow in so many others' footsteps, she doesn't have to show it.

"PIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKAAAAAAAAA!" _Knock it off!_

She didn't need to be a psychic to know what was coming next… especially because her son kept forgetting (on purpose, most likely) what happened when he did that to little Tesla.

A familiar shock. "GAAAAAAAH!"

She might even miss that. But not as much as the rest.

* * *

><p>"Urghhhhh… You didn't have to do that, Tes… I was just messing around with you…" said Red, as he and his partner walked down the stairs to the ground floor of his home, twitching slightly with each step. Step step.<p>

"~Pika!~" _You know I don't like it when you do that!_, replied the mouse on Red's shoulder. _You could have picked me up after you got your PokeDex…_ Step step.

"But I need you to be there when I register as a trainer. It'll save us time if I register you as my starter when I get my PokeDex. Besides, Blue's going to want to… oh good morning, Mom!" Step step done. The boy walked through the kitchen to where his mom sat in their living room. Well, it would be hers in about an hour or two.

"Morning, son!" While saying this, she turned to face him. "…Shouldn't you get dressed?"

Red blinked and looked down at himself. Green laced with lightning was what he saw. He promptly turned back around and ran back to his room (Tesla jumped off his shoulder right as he began running) while yelling "Thanks!"

The remaining two sighed.

Five minutes later, Red returned with attire more suited for a trainer and for one with his name – dull pants, red jacket, black shirt, red-white hat. "Alright, now I'm ready to go!" His yelling re-woke Tesla, who had dozed off as soon as his partner ran back up the stairs. The Pikachu jumped back onto Red's right shoulder.

"~pikaaaaa~" _You could have taken some more time…_ The Pikachu yawned as Red turned for the door.

"It's better if we hurry. Nightfall's not gonna wait for us." He motioned as if he were about to run out the door, then remembered that there was something else he needed to say. "Mom!"

His mom turned back around to face him. "Hm?"

"Don't worry. I'll be back to move the Wii like I promised!" Then, he ran out.

His mom sighed. _That's not what I'm worried about…_

* * *

><p>Pallet Town (if it could even be called that; it was more like a village) held few occupants, and the vast majority of those that lived here did so because of their connection to the Oak Laboratory. There was little else about the town that would inspire anyone else to move in – sure it had peace, and sure you had to come here to get a starter from the Oak lab, but those weren't reasons to stay.<p>

There was nothing in this town except homes and the lab. Granted, the lab did take up a lot of space, especially as it kept growing and had to be split into several buildings, but without a Pokemon Center (or even a Mart) few trainers wanted to stay here, even if Oak would be there.

Too bad for them. Living in the same town as the world-famous Pokemon Professor came with some impressive benefits. Not the least was all the Pokemon Oak oversaw from trainers who would rather not leave them bored in the PC. As Red ran over to the lab (southeast from his home), he saw two of Oak's assistants checking up on one now – a Tentacruel (which might have been wild, not that Red cared), a massive blue jellyfish with two red jewels symmetrically adorning its head (crown?) and one in front.

It saw Red first, black eyes on a black body turning towards the eager soon-to-be trainer. The two assistants – one male, one female – followed the five foot water sac's gaze. They all sent out a resounding greeting to the boy (and also to Tesla, not that he heard it – he'd somehow gone back to sleep on Red's shoulder while not falling off). While running, he returned the greeting, and dashed straight into the Lab Building #1.

To be more precise, he slammed the double doors open, the noise interrupting the conversation between the Pokemon Professor and his grandson, Blue Oak. They turned to face the newcomer, and so did the third in their party – the brown fox/dog/cat with a white-tipped tail known as an Eevee. Said fox-dog-cat gracefully leapt from his partner's shoulder.

In comparison, Tesla soft of… rolled off of Red's shoulder once the boy came to a halt, and hit the ground with a plop-ish sound. "~Pika!~" _Ow!_ The Eevee laughed at him.

Blue stood from his chair and walked towards his friend (and now rival). "Took you long enough, Red! Geez, did you take the scenic route or something? I could've been in Viridian by now, ya slowpoke!" He stopped a few feet from Tesla.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Are you in that much of a hurry to get started?"

Blue looked at Red with confusion. "You mean you're not?"

"N-no, I am!" Red waved his arms about.

"Then let's get going!" He turned to his grandfather. "Gramps! Register Red already!"

Oak sighed. _You're in too much of a hurry…_ He stood, and moved over towards a computer, waving Red over. While Tesla was still getting his bearings, Red took care of the paperwork that allowed him to be a Pokemon Trainer. There was… surprisingly little, he found. He was sure that he had done more during the short time he was an assistant for Oak.

"Well, that's that." The Professor said, and walked away, humming.

"Wait… that's it? I'm a Trainer now?" Tesla's ears perked up. They were done already?

"Essentially! I'd like you two to do me a favor though, so hold on for a minute or two." He then walked off for another section of his lab. Red turned back to Blue, who was grinning wickedly. Red had a good idea where this was going. Blue did like to show-off…

"Hey Red! Before we head off, let's battle! Winner gets 300 poke-dollars!"

"Hm… I dunno…" Red took off his cap, and scratched his black hair. "I feel like we should wait until we both have more Pokemon to do this."

"What, are ya scared? Well, I'm not surprised. I have beaten you in most of our practice battles."

_If by most, you mean about half…_ Red decided not to say that out loud. That'd just incense Blue further. He walked over to Tesla. "You ready for a battle, partner?"

"~pikapika~" _Alright, alright… If it'll make Blue shut up…_

The Eevee spoke up, just like his master. "~eeee!~" _Hah! Get ready to lose, you fat rat!_

"~pika~" _I'm a mouse, thank you._

"Alright, it's on! Eevee, start off with a Sand-Attack!" Blue shouted suddenly, taking both Red and Tesla by surprise. Eevee, on the other hand, immediately complied, and began kicking up dust in Tesla's direction. Tesla blindly backed away with little delay, coughing all the way.

"Tesla!" Red called. _He used that surprise attack to get around Tesla's greater speed!_

"Now, follow it up with a Tackle!" Eevee dashed directly at Tesla, to strike him with his whole body. Tesla opened his eyes just in time to know which direction the Eevee was coming from, and rolled out of the way. Red backed up so he didn't get hit either (even if it was just an Eevee, it'd still sting).

"Tesla, use Thundershock!" From his red cheeks, Tesla sent out short lightning pulses at his opponent, all of them missing – except one. Tesla kept sending out bursts of electricity at the Eevee, who kept dodging but also couldn't approach. Blue pondered a way to get his Eevee out of this situation, where all he could do was lose. How about a surprise, then?

"Eevee!" Blue called. Tesla prepared to roll out of the way of another Tackle.

"Use Mimic!" Tesla paused. The Eevee unleashed a weak electric bolt from his body, which hit Tesla dead on, not doing much damage.

"Now, use Tackle!" Tesla prepared to dodge the real attack, once he saw the Eevee dashing at him, but found his legs unwilling to move. _That last attack paralyzed me! What kind of luck is that!_

The Eevee, on the other hand, was quite pleased with this development. He wasn't sure where his master was going with that use of Mimic, but now it was obvious. How could he have planned that paralysis, though? (He didn't.) His blow struck Tesla straight on, doing a critical amount of damage. Both Blue and his Eevee took this as a sign of victory.

Red, however, saw an opening. "Tesla, Thundershock now!"

At such a close range, the attack had no choice but to hit – and so it did, with the Eevee finding his legs thunder-stuck as well. But even with that, another blow from the Eevee would knock out Tesla, and everyone knew it – even Oak, who had been watching from the stairs. _These two could very well become champions_, he thought. _I wonder what Lance would think if he could see this…_

"Tesla, use Thundershock!" The Eevee barely side-stepped the jolt.

"Eevee, Tackle!" Tesla barely side-stepped the Eevee's brave charge. He sent out another jolt at the fox-dog-cat, but missed again. The Eevee came back around to hit him, but his legs became stuck again, and he took the blow. Tired, panting, he didn't get back up.

"~pikapika!~" _Alright, alright, you win! I wanna go back to sleep…_

The Eevee blinked. "~vee? veeeveevee!" _Wait, I won? I won! Ha! I knew I'd beat you, you lazy mouse!_ Clearly, he was now disregarding all those Thundershocks. And the paralysis.

"Ha! Nice try Red, but it looks like I win again!" The battlers walked towards each other and shook hands. Red put a hand in his pocket, fished out his wallet, and handed Blue the prize-money.

"Here you go." "Thanks."

Oak took that as his cue to head back down the stairs, and now the two heard his approach and turned towards him. He applauded his grandson. "Bravo! Very nice, Blue! Good try, Red. Now then, for the matter I wanted to talk to you two about…" He held out two strange grey devices that made the two boys recall old Gameboy systems. It was half as tall as Tesla (who was an average-sized Pikachu) and had half of that for its width. Its depth was comparable to a boy's thumb. Red fiddled with it while Blue asked his grandpa what these things were.

"They're Pokemon Indexes… Pokedexes in short. Those are some of our alpha prototypes, and I'd like the two of you to try them out for me. They contain detailed data entries on all the Pokemon that we're aware exist in Kanto – all 149 of them, as well as some information on Pokemon from other regions. These were designed to help researchers in the field, so I'd like you to add to any entries which seem lacking. They're also connected by a wireless network, so any updates you make will be shared with the rest of them."

"Cool!" replied Blue. "This'll help me find all kinds of strong Pokemon!" He picked up his Eevee, who was still paralyzed. "Once sis fixes you up, let's head right out, Eevee! Smell ya later, Red! Bet I'll get eight badges before you do!" The Eevee cheered as Blue promptly ran out of Oak's lab, much like how Red entered.

"…" _You're on!_ is what he would have said had Blue stuck around.

"Oh, that kid! He didn't even let me explain how it works! Bah!" Oak grumbled a bit before he noticed that Red was still there. "Well, it's all supposed to be intuitive anyway. By the way, Red…"

Red perked up.

"I know your mother's not a trainer, so would you like a few Poke Balls before you hit Viridian? Before you ask, Blue has more than enough."

Red accepted the offer. While there, he also healed Tesla with Oak's healing machine and headed back home with his partner. _There's just one thing left to do before I can go…_

* * *

><p>Red (and Tesla) went back home. His mother wasn't in the living room, but he could hear running water from upstairs. <em>She must be getting ready for work.<em>

As might be expected by a town dominated by the Oak Lab, most of the people who worked in Pallet either worked directly for the Lab or helped to support it, and so did Red's mom. His dad also worked for Oak here, before that guy left to go do… something. He didn't remember what. In any case, he had to get his stuff, move the Wii and say goodbye!

The first two parts took only a few minutes. As for the last, he'd have to wait until his mom came back down the steps. He could hear the water stop, so it could only be a few minutes longer. He stood in wait by the front door, as his mother prepared herself for the day, and appeared in a lab coat.

"…Red. My son." She approached him, and gave him a big hug. "Good luck out there. And make sure you come back to visit sometimes."

"I will. Thanks, mom."

Moments later, he was gone, his journey begun.


	2. The Power to Believe I

As Red and Tesla headed north from their home, Red was rummaging through his backpack, making sure he had what he was looking for… if he didn't forget it… his map.

"~pika?~" _Don't you already know where to go?_ asked Tesla, walking beside him. Tesla's pokeball was nestled somewhere in Red's backpack, and he felt no need to recall his partner. If they were jumped by a wild pokemon, it'd be better if Tesla were already out and ready to go. Well, as ready to go as Tesla ever was.

"Just making sure we can still get to Pewter before nightfall. I'd rather not camp in the Viridian Forest." The two of them had heard stories of trainers getting lost in those woods, and didn't want to join them in case they were true. "Hm… Well let's get on Route 1 first, before we do anything else."

"~pikapi~" _You mean, you do anything else._

Red chuckled, and the two dashed into the tall grass at the edge of Pallet Town.

Minutes later, they entered Route 1.

There isn't much to say about Route 1 – a short path connecting Viridian and Pallet with occasional patches of tall grass. As Red was messing around with his pokedex earlier, he saw that both rattata and pidgey made their home here, so he resolved to catch one of each before reaching Viridian. Shouldn't take too long considering how common they both are.

"C'mon Tesla! We need to do some searching." The two walked into tall grass again… and Red saw from the corner of his eye, a man standing around on the winding dirt path that spanned Route 1. Red didn't know if the man was a trainer, so he ignored the guy. Said guy stood tall, wearing an apron, looking around.

Moments later, he spotted movement at the other end of the tall grass and bits of purple contrasting with the green. This must be a pack of rattata, he figured. They startle easily and are more likely to run from a trainer than engage one. Sneak up on them? Yes, that's how they'd have to do this. Red kneeled down to whisper directly in Tesla's ear.

"You see them, too?"

"~pikapi~" _Yeah. I think I should use Thunder Wave._

"Go for it." Red rummaged thru his bag as quietly as possible while Tesla gathered electricity. The sparks made faint static sounds, but the purple patch didn't seem too worried about them – perhaps they couldn't tell what it was or hear that faint chirping at all.

"Now!" Red stood up.

Waves of electricity rolled from Tesla's body towards the purple patch.

Ears swiveled towards the source, along with red eyes.

They raced away, as Red expected, and out of the grass. Tesla fired Thundershocks at them, missing just about all of them, and the rattata escaped.

"~pi…pika~" _Well… that was disappointing._

The duo sighed, and something about their sighing must have caught the eye of that guy standing around, because he walked up to them.

"Hey, did you just start your training journey?" the older, brown-haired man asked.

"Is it that obvious?"

The man chuckled. "Oh, cheer up. You'll just get better from mishaps like that. Anyway, I work for the PokeMart in Viridian, and we're giving out a free potion to new trainers." He handed Red a potion, which Red accepted gratefully. "Good luck!" He then ran back to his workplace, knowing that the only other trainer he'd seen on this route had already received one.

"What a nice man," said Red while stowing away the potion. "I'll have to stop by that mart before leaving Viridian."

He smiled. "Now then… back to pokemon catching!"

Red and Tesla spent the next half-hour trying (and failing) to catch even one rattata. No matter what they tried, the small and quick rodents always managed to slip away just before Red could call out any Thundershocks.

At one point, they were in the middle of another failure, and Red decided to just lob a pokeball at the pack even though they weren't injured. He knew it wouldn't work – a pokemon aware that someone was trying to catch it could easily break out at full strength – but maybe he would get lucky.

And he did.

That pack veered off course as soon as he said "pokeball go!" but directly in front of them, minding its own business, was another one of their kind foraging. The pokeball hit that one straight on – one shake, two shakes, three shakes, congratulations! You caught a rattata!

Red blinked. Tesla blinked. "Didn't see that coming." He walked over, picked up the ball, and pressed the sole button on its body. The ball split open on a back hinge, and a red beam shot out of its darkness, re-forming the same rattata.

The rattata blinked. "~rata?~" _What just happened?_

Tesla trotted over to the new catch. "~pikapika!~" _Welcome to the party! My trainer just captured you._

"~ra~" _Oh._

A pause. Red began messing around with his pokedex again.

"~ratta! ratarata?~" _What! What do you mean by that?_

"~pikaka…~" _Well, you'll be coming along with us on a journey as Red tries to become a Pokemon Master. Or something like that. I might have slept through that part..._

The rattata shook its head. "~ratatata!~" _But I don't want to leave here! The other grassy places are dangerous!_

Tesla sighed. "~pika…~" _Alright, look here…_ It would be a pain, but it seemed that he would need to talk this one into staying on with them. Well, rattata weren't inclined to fighting unless they had to – being a formerly wild pokemon, he understood that mentality. But it wouldn't help now.

"~pikapika…pikapika!~" _You won't be alone, alright? You have me, Red and all the other pokemon who'll be joining us on Red's stupid journey._ (The rattata chuckled at that.) He patted the rattata on the head. _So relax! You'll be fine with us._

The rattata didn't say anything. Tesla turned to his first partner. "~pikapi~" _What are you doing with that thing, anyway?_

Red didn't turn away from the small screen. "Just looking for something. It's a feature Oak mentioned while he was healing you… Ah, here it is. 'trainer's pokemon'" He turned to Tesla and pointed the 'dex at him and at his new pokemon. He began to read off the screen in bits and pieces.

"Let's see… Tesla; male; level 10 pikachu; knows Thundershock, Thunder Wave, Growl, Tail Whip; Static ability… and it has your stats, weakness, resistances, move list, egg group and a whole bunch of other stuff too… Next entry… Unnamed rattata; female; level 4; knows Tackle, Tail Whip and Quick Attack; Run Away ability… well that last one's not helpful, but no matter! You need a name…" Red put a hand to his chin.

The rattata stepped towards Red slowly. "~ra?~" _A name?_

"Yeah. Something to call you… how about Kora?"

She seemed okay with it, as far as Red could tell. So, that would be the rattata's name from now on, and he entered it into the pokedex (which also maintained a connection to Oak's registry of pokemon trainers, apparently) as such.

Welcome to the team, Kora! But she still seemed apprehensive…

Thinking that the wild pokemon would be stronger on Route 2 and in the Viridian Forest (and knowing that he still had a way to go until he could even think about taking on the Pewter City Gym), he decided to level up Kora a bit before heading on Viridian. It went about as well as one might expect, given how timid the rattata was and how non-confrontational most of the wild pokemon were. An hour later, Kora had gained only enough experience to go up a level and a half. (To the side, Tesla was asleep.)

Red sighed. Even the pidgey, while not quite as aggressive as gyarados or ursaring, didn't seem up to battling. And they still needed to hurry on along, or risk having to spend the night in the Viridian Forest.

"~rarata…~" _I don't think this is working…_ commented Kora. She hadn't completely warmed up to the whole being taken from her home and dragged along on a(n epic) journey, but was starting to get the hang of this whole 'battle' thing. It wasn't as bad as she was expecting, and tried not to wonder about whether things were going to get better or worse from here on.

_Relax! You'll be fine with us._ She'd like to believe that.

"Yeah, I'm starting to agree. We should he…" Red began before being interrupted by sharp chirping coming from a patch of nearby trees. He started looking around for the source, but noticed that Tesla (who was now awake) and Kora had already located it, thanks to their sharper ears. Red turned to that tree and something quickly flew out of it.

It was a pidgey, flying directly at them. And unlike normal pidgey, the brown feathers it should have had were replaced with dull golden ones instead. Red saw none of the annoyance in its eyes that he noticed with the other pidgey they had encountered, but instead something closer to confidence. Red didn't know what should be more surprising: that he'd run into a shiny pokemon so early on in his journey or that it was attacking them.

Because the pidgey was gunning straight for Tesla. As soon as the pikachu realized that the bird was going to Tackle him, not just flying low for some other reason, he jumped out of the pidgey's path about five seconds before impact.

"~pikapi?~" _What the hell?_ he asked.

"~pidgpidg!~" _Have at you!_ replied the small bird pokemon as he kept throwing out attacks at Tesla (and occasionally Kora, but not as often). Red pulled out his pokedex and tried to consult it, a difficult task when the subject kept flying around. At the same time, he commanded his two party members.

"Tesla, use Thundershock! Kora, wait until Tesla gets a hit to use an attack!" Tesla complied by sending out bolts randomly hoping to just catch the annoying bird in one, but said bird skillfully avoided them. But they did slow him down enough so that Red could get a reading.

"_A level 9_? _On Route 1_? And a shiny pidgey at that!" He put the Pokedex in a back pocket. That settled things. He had to catch this pidgey. The rest of their travels would go so much smoother if he did. And there was the whole 'shiny' aspect too, can't forget that.

"~rata?~" _Did he just say a level 9?_ exclaimed Kora, while keeping away from both the Thundershocks and the Tackles. Tesla was being awfully inconsiderate of her position for some reason.

Tesla grimaced. Well, that explained a few things about this whole scenario. He supposed that now Red would want to catch the pidgey, and he had no problems helping there. The blasted bird (who still won't get hit!) had interrupted his nap and needed to be punished.

"~pikaaaa… pipipika!~" _Doesn't matter… I have the type advantage!_ The pikachu chuckled wickedly and Kora stepped further away from him.

"Kora, use Quick Attack! Tesla, switch roles!" Red called to his two teammates. Kora wasn't sure what doing that was supposed to do, but she did it anyway, noticing that Tesla had ended the light(ning) show. She began running at the pidgey faster than the pidgey was flying. The bird noticed her and sped up; so did she.

The bird made a wide turn; she made a sharp pass and cut him off, striking true… and sending him directly towards Tesla. The pikachu was grinning wickedly and had one paw in the other, electricity sparking wildly from his cheeks.

"~piiii… pipikapi?~" _Sooo… interrupt my nap, will you?_ More electricity.

The pidgey's eyes widened, and he flailed his body around to regain control and not get anywhere near the malicious electric mouse, succeeded and was promptly struck in the back by another Quick Attack from the rattata. The pidgey landed hard on the ground, but quickly rebounded.

"~pipiiiiiiiiidg!~" _Take thiiiiiiiiiiiis!_ The pidgey yelled as he lunged straight at the rattata for another Tackle, and was so distracted by that, he didn't notice the pokeball headed straight for his head until it was too late.

Not.

With a back-winged motion, the pidgey sent out a Gust at the pokeball, preventing it from reaching him, but not Kora from hitting him with yet another Quick Attack. Disoriented from those three hits, he didn't block the next pokeball.

"Alright!" Red walked over to pick up the pokeball, and also patted Kora on her head. "Good job, Kora. Now then, back to training!"

Kora's mood dropped a bit, then rose again when she realized that she had taken on a stronger pokemon essentially by herself (Tesla's help was mainly psychological) and won. The next hour seemed to breeze by (especially for Tesla who went back to sleep) and the two were much more successful in raising her level. She reached level 9 and the three of them went into Viridian, now avoiding the few encounters they had.

As he said, the second thing Red did upon entering Viridian City was enter the Poke Mart. The shop looked just the same as any other small general store, but there was one crucial difference: this shop sold only supplies for pokemon trainers – both hobbyists and wanderers. The brown-haired apron-wearing assistant saw Red as he walked in. So did the man at the register.

"Hello there!" "Oh, it's you! Welcome!" they said at about the same time.

The cashier turned to the other man and began talking, as Red began looking around the shelves for items to buy on his limited budget.

"You know that kid?" the cashier leaned on the counter, chin in hand.

"Yeah, he's a newbie. Gave him a potion, like I said. Just like that other kid, he came here."

The cashier chuckled softly. "Alright, I admit it. That was a good idea. That Blue kid spent a whole lot here, and now with this kid…"

Red interrupted them from the end of an aisle of plenty. "Blue was here?" He stepped out, holding a few potions and pokeballs.

"Brown spiky hair, about your height with an Eevee?"

Red nodded.

"Yep, that's the one. He looked in a rush – probably halfway to Pewter City with that bike of his. Wonder why he's in a rush?"

"He was always like that." Red put down six potions and three pokeballs on the counter. "We're rivals, so he wants to keep ahead of me. But I don't have a bike…"

The cashier began ringing in the items. 2400 poke-dollars total.

His assistant spoke up. "I hear there's a bike shop over in Cerulean. Might want to check them out. You should take on some trainers beforehand though, they're expensive."

"Sure you don't want any antidotes?" asked the cashier, now done with his task. "They'll be pretty useful in the forest up north, what with all the weedle and beedrill up there. Can't expect the pidgeotto to take care of them all for ya!"

Red wavered. Yes, he would probably need one or two while running the Viridian Forest, trying to find the northern exit, but he did still need to eat before he left – and feed his pokemon, including the mankey he needed to catch on Route 22 to take on Brock's team.

The two could see his wavering as he closed his eyes in thought. The cashier interrupted him. "Tell ya what, take one or two on the house – I'm feeling nice today. But you better go on and beat your friend in whatever you're doing, all right?"

Red promised and left with those two antidotes, thinking they'd come in handy later.

Route 22 was another one of those short paths between two far more important locales – Viridian City and the gate to the Indigo Plateau (including the Kanto/Johto Victory Road). Immediately to the north of the route were rocky outcroppings which grew higher and higher – eventually into the mountains forming the boundary between the two regions, the one the Indigo Plateau straddled.

The route itself was rough and sloped up to the west towards the gate. It held a few patches of tall grass and a small lake near Viridian, but the grass became rougher and shorter towards the mountains. But even with that roughness, Red could see the few wild pokemon that made this route their home moving about: spearow and rattata in the grass, mankey in the trees.

At the level these mankey were at, the only move they knew he felt he should worry about was Karate Chop. Kora should be able to handle this without Tesla's help.

He released Kora from her pokeball. She looked around at the route (swiveling her ears to take in the sounds) and then at Red.

"~rara?~" _More training?_

Red shook his head. "We need to catch a mankey to take on the Pewter City gym. See them up there?" He pointed at one of the trees, where several mankey were swinging around and resting – small white-furred pig-nosed red-eyed monkey pokemon. Kora nodded. The duo looked and wandered around to find one alone, locating a strong-looking (relatively) one by the small lake. Kora snuck up on him (according to the 'dex) while Red kept a bit of distance.

Eventually, the mankey heard them. Red accidently stepped on a branch, and he turned in their direction. Seemingly enraged by this, the mankey rushed at Kora with intent to use Karate Chop, screaming. Kora responded by… running away from the mankey, led by fear.

Red sighed. Well, he should have expected that reaction. "Kora, use Quick Attack! Hit him before he hits you!"

She turned, Red's call reminding her of what they were there to do, and dashed back at the mankey. Said mankey became even more enraged at the audacity of this rattata to try and fight it head on. "~keeeeeeeeey!~" _Youuuuuuuuuu!_

But due to Kora's smaller size, she got away from the chop and hit him. She ran away again from the further enraged pokemon, now very much distracted from Red and the pokeball thrown at him. The ball hit him on the side of his head, and he didn't even react before he was captured.

One shake, two, three… Success!

Red walked over to the pokeball, picked it up and began walking back to Viridian. "I'll train you in the Forest… Shouldn't take too long to get through it."

…


	3. Sleepless

Chapter 3 – Sleepless

…

Warmth fell across his body, his face. Black turned to red. He was stirred.

"Hey! Are you alright? Hey!"

Someone was poking him somewhere… from the sound, a girl; from the sensation, on the arm. But why was someone doing this? And why was he laying on the grass? He was on his way to Pewter City, last he remembered, towards the Pokémon Center.

Why was he out here?

"Hey! Wake up!" Another nudge (more like a shove). No consideration at all.

He rolled over and opened his eyes. Surrounded by the sky, he saw the one that must have been prodding him – a girl, indeed, with brown hair that fell down to her shoulders, except for two prominent fins, brown eyes and a fair complexion. They stared at each other for a few moments.

Red's stomach growled.

–

About an hour later, Red and his team were well-fed thanks to the girl who had found them. Her name was Lia. She split off from them afterward, leaving Red to head for the Pewter City Pokémon Gym and take on Brock, the Gym Leader. Thanks to all the training he did while in the Viridian Forest, he felt ready for this challenge.

_Feels like I was stuck in that forest for months! ...But it was only a few days._

He had heard rumors of trainers – even skilled ones! - becoming hopelessly lost is labyrinthine locales like the Viridian Forest, and becoming prey to wild animals, some of them pokémon. Or having to eat their own party members to survive, or being eaten by them.

Thankfully, he was able to avoid that fate – though his new Mankey didn't make things easy for him. Come to think of it, the guy needed a name too... And so did the fifth member of his team.

But that could come later. Right now, he needed to take on the gym!

There was only one problem with that.

He stood in front of the Gym building – a plain building with the word 'GYM' plastered on it – and saw that all the lights were out and the front door was locked with chains. It seemed that the Pewter City Gym was closed.

Red walked up to the glass doors and peeked inside the Gym. The inside, as far as he could see in the darkness, held only rocks and a stone floor. But no one seemed to be inside it.

"Hey! The Gym's closed!" someone yelled at him. Red turned to the source of the yell, and he saw the girl Lia standing on the opposite side of the fence separating the Gym from the rest of Pewter City. Standing beside her was a kid in all green – green shirt, green shorts, even green shoes! - except for his socks, which were a normal and boring white. The kid was the one who had made the annoyed yell.

Red walked over to them. "Do you know when the Gym Leader will be back?"

The kid answered him. "Brock went over to Mt. Moon yesterday to go digging for fossils, and said he was camping there overnight. He was supposed to be back this morning, but I haven't seen him. So the Gym's closed until further notice. If you're looking to earn a badge, you'll have to wait until he gets back. Not that you'd beat him, of course."

Red ignored that jab. If Brock was over at Mt. Moon, then he could go find him, and said as much to the kid.

"Could you? I have to stay here and watch over the gym, so it'd be awesome if you could get him back here! I mean, he's Brock, so he should be fine, but since you're offering..."

"It's no problem!" Tesla might complain about having to do this, but the rest of his team would be up for it.

"Okay, thanks for your help!" The kid turned and pointed in the direction of some mountains. "Mt. Moon is over there. Brock should be in a cavern somewhere in there. If you need a map, you can borrow one from the Poké Mart. See you later!" With that, the kid walked off, leaving Red and Lia behind.

Red hopped the fence and joined her.

"Thanks again for feeding us."

"No problem! You can pay me back by letting me watch your match against Brock. I missed the last Gym match..."

That must have been when Blue was here. And probably only a few days ago. But knowing Blue, he might already have two badges... Red needed to move fast!

"Lia, I don't suppose you could help me out again..."

–

Red would have been alright with Lia passing him off to someone else who knew of the tunnels under Mt. Moon. What he received instead was guidance from her, as she was also a wanderer (but not a trainer) and learned her way around the underground.

"I'll get you there quick!" she promised with a smile.

However, they first made two quick detours – to the Pokémon Center and the Poké Mart. Once Red's team was fully healed, the five of them were informed of the gym leader's absence, informed of what they were doing about it and introduced to Lia. Tesla seemed nonchalant about these events, Kora shied away from the newcomer, and the other three – the unnamed Pidgey, Mankey and Butterfree – seemed eager to get going.

With that done, Red recalled his team and Lia led him over to Mt. Moon. Along the way, they ran down Route 3 and several trainers tried to convince Red to battle them. But once they said that he was on official Pewter City Gym business and was in quite a hurry, thankyouverymuch, they were left alone.

In this way, the two of them easily dashed into Mt. Moon's caverns.

–

The caverns under Mt. Moon, being well-traveled, were lit by electric lights. Thanks to these lights, wild pokémon shied away from the paths walked by trainers, ensuring that only a few random encounters distracted them from their goal. The two wild pokémon that lived near the cave's Pewter City exit – Zubat and Geodude – were easily knocked out by Red's Mankey and Tesla. A few trainers resided on this first level; they dodged them as well.

Lia guided Red to a rope ladder, and they descended into a dark cavern. Lia grabbed Red's arm and led him through the darkness, seemingly knowing her way.

"Brock digs for fossils on the second basement level... and the ladder to take us down there should be nearby..."

She found it, and they descended once more. The area they found themselves in was also lit by lanterns, but more sparsely – an occasional Paras could be seen among the usual suspects. As they scoured the cavern for the Gym Leader, sounds of a battle emerged and grew.

Eventually, they emerged in an open area where a man with brown spiky hair and three guys all dressed in black could be seen having a pokémon battle – an Onix and a Geodude vs. some Zubats, Rattatas and Sandshrews. The man with spiky hair was standing in front of a rock formation where some oddly shaped stones were poking out. Next to the man was a kid wearing glasses and a white shirt; he was directing a Voltorb to help out the man.

Lia pointed at the spiky haired one. "That's Brock! But who are those guys he's battling?"

Red growled. "Looks like Team Rocket to me."

Shortly before he left Pallet, his mother had warned him to look out for members of Team Rocket and avoid engaging them. They were known to be ruthless thugs and used pokémon as weapons, aiming to destroy anyone who stood in their way. Today, that category included Brock. He must have found them in the middle of some scheme.

Red called out Butterfree and Kora, and they jumped into battle. Butterfree blasted out a Confusion attack at one of the Zubat and Kora dashed at a Sandshrew, using a Quick Attack.

That drew the attention of the trainers from their battle. The three Rocket Grunts glared at him and told him to piss off. This was supposed to be easy – grab the fossils, run away, sell them for profit. But not only was a Gym Leader down here for some reason, some random punks were getting' in their way too! And they were losing already, despite their numeric advantage.

"Thanks for the help, kid!" yelled Brock.

"No problem!" Red sent out the rest of his team as well, turning the battle-tide solidly in their favor. The Rocket trio's last pokémon – a Sandshrew – was knocked out by a tackle from Brock's Geodude.

"Gah! Useless runts!" yelled one of them. "Don't think this over! Those fossils will be ours!" The three of them then dashed off, leaving their KO'd teams behind. Those who remained recalled their pokémon.

Brock turned to Red and Lia. "Thanks again. Those guys from Team Rocket were trying to steal these fossils for some reason." Brock gestured behind him, towards the rock formation. Domes and helical structures emerged from the stones. "Probably to sell them or something.."

The kid with glasses stepped forward. "There's no way I could let Team rocket take any of these fossils! All of them are mine!"

Brock frowned at him.

"...Okay, you can have some too..."

Brock sighed. "Miguel, you're missing the point. You can't just claim all the fossils for yourself, and neither can Team Rocket. These are the remains of ancient creatures and should be treated with respect."

"If you say so... Can I just have one though? Please~~!"

"Hm. Alright, but just one." As Miguel began to dig out a fossil, Brock turned his attention back to Red and Lia. "Lia, I know you're not into fossils... What's your name, kid?"

"Red."

"Well, Red, if you want a fossil, you can take one, as thanks for helping me. Miguel can show you how to dig them out."

"Uh... okay." Red didn't think the fossil would be good for anything, but he didn't want to reject Brock's offer either. Besides, they looked cool. Miguel and Red dug out two fossils – a Helix fossil and a Dome fossil – as Brock pulled out a phone and dialed Nurse Joy's number.

–

"So, which one do you want?"

"Hm?" Red turned to Miguel. They were still in the Mt. Moon caves, waiting for Nurse Joy to arrive and collect all the fainted pokémon Team Rocket left behind. "You can pick. I don't mind either way."

From the look on Miguel's face, that was entirely the wrong thing to say. "WHAT? But this is important! A Dome fossil is the fossilized remains of a Kabuto, and a Helix fossil is an Omanyte! They're two totally different ancient pokémon! Kabuto is theorized to..."

_Hmm... wonder if they're in the Pokédex?_ Red pulled out his Pokédex and began fiddling with it, while Miguel continued to rant, not knowing that he'd lost Red. Lia was the only one listening to him, finding the topic of ancient Pokémon actually interesting.

"...So because these fossils aren't found just here, but also in the Ruins of Alph, some researchers think that... Hey! You're not even listening!" Miguel got right in Red's face, and snatched his pokédex. "What are you even looking at?" He began fiddling with Red's pokédex. "Wow! This is cool! There's so much information in here!"

Miguel turned to Red, who angrily took his pokédex back. "Where'd you get that from?"

"Prof. Oak gave it to me," answered Red. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't take it."

"And I'd appreciate it if you were listening to me," retorted the self-proclaimed Super Nerd. "I know most people don't care about fossils, but I do! And so does Brock! That's why I asked him to show me where they were. Did you know that there are..." Miguel paused when he saw Red's bored face looking elsewhere. Red had the sense to feel embarrassed this time, and chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that."

Miguel humphed. "Whatever. I guess you just came here to fight Brock, anyway. Too bad for you, because he's the toughest trainer around here!" And that sentiment gave him an idea. "If you can't beat me, then there's no way you'd be able to beat him! So how about this: let's battle. If you win, you can have both fossils. If I win, I get both!"

Miguel decided not to mention the fact that he could come back for fossils any time he wanted, because he lived in Pewter City.

"Sounds fair." This would be good experience for his team. Maybe he'd get lucky and Miguel used Rock-types like Brock. Then he'd have a better idea of what to watch for in the Gym match.

Conveniently, Brock walked over. "A match, eh? I think I'll watch..." He sat over to the side, joined by Lia, as Red and and Miguel gave themselves room for a proper pokémon battle. There was plenty of that inside Mt. Moon.

Red sent out the pokémon at the lead spot of his team, Butterfree. Miguel sent out a Grimer, prompting everyone to cover their noses. The stench-bearer was quickly dispatched by two Confusion attacks, the first of which confused the Grimer. Miguel recalled the Grimer and sent out a Koffing, prompting everyone to take deep breaths in relief.

"~freefreefree!~" Finally, that awful smell is gone!

"~koffing...koff~" Aww, Grimer lost... lame.

"Koffing, use Smog!"

The Koffing contracted its body and sent out cloudy waves of brown-colored gas. The Butterfree flew away from them, figuring the gas was poisonous. However, the gas obscured the Koffing, so the Butterfree didn't know where to aim.

But the Koffing did. "Koffing, Tackle!"

Out of the smog, the Koffing emerged and blindsided the Butterfree. Red yelled at the Butterfree to use Confusion, and he did. The Koffing floated away after receiving a dose of psychic pain, and the Butterfree followed him into the smog.

A minute later, the smog dissipated. The Koffing was knocked out on the ground, and the Butterfree hovered above him triumphantly.

"~free!~" Victory! Going with the kid was already proving to be a good decision, compared to life in the Viridian Forest for a Bug-type like him. And hopefully, it'd stay like that!

Miguel, annoyed, recalled his pokémon. "Go, Voltorb!" This was his last one; he'd need to make it count. "Use Tackle!" The Voltorb silently lunged at the Butterfree, and missed. It tried again, faster than the Butterfree could react, and hit him hard. Red recalled him, and sent out Kora.

"~rara...ta?~" Is that a Poké Ball... with eyes?

The Voltorb Screeched at her. "~_VOLTORB!_~" _How dare you!_

Terrified by the talking over-sized poké Ball, she ran away and cowered behind Red's legs.

Red called to her. "Kora!"

She jumped up.

"Relax, it's just another pokémon. Now, use Quick Attack!"

Reluctantly, she did as Red commanded and dashed out at the Voltorb, striking it. The Voltorb made a motion to Screech at her again, but she stopped the thing by biting it with a Hyper Fang. It fainted from the pain. Miguel recalled his last pokémon.

"Aww, I lost..." Miguel hand the two fossils over to Red, along with some prize-money. "Guess these are yours now." Red took his gains, and handed the Dome fossil back to Miguel.

"I said you could have both..."

"I know, but you said you wanted one too."

Miguel smiled. "Hah! Thanks!" The two of them put up their fossils, just in time for Nurse Joy to arrive with several Chansey. They took the fainted pokémon over to Pewter City.

–

The fainted pokémon were taken into an intensive care area. At the counter, Nurse Joy used the healing machine to heal Red's, Miguel's and Brock's pokémon. They thanked her, and the three of them left the building.

Miguel took off for his home, thanking Red again for the fossil. They waved him off.

Brock turned to Red. "I'll have the Gym open in about half an hour. Challenge me whenever you're ready!" With that, Brock dashed off to his Gym.

Red hesitated. Now what was he going to do?

Lost in thought, he didn't notice Lia re-appear, wave to him, call to him, and then walk up to him and poke him in the forehead. Red flinched and fell over backwards, causing her to chuckle.

She reached a hand out to him. "While we're waiting, I'll show you around! Let's go!"

Red took her hand.


	4. Stonechild

Chapter 4 – Stonechild

Red and Lia stood in front of the Pewter City Gym.

"You ready?"

Red nodded. They walked inside.

True to its type, the main adornment of the Pewter City Gym was the humble rock, and it existed in multitudes. The floor was sand-colored tile, and the green-wearing kid from before stood in the middle of the gym. Brock sat in the back, on a large boulder.

The kid spoke up, challenging Red. "My name is Camper Liam! You'll have to beat me first before you can challenge Brock! Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you helped us out earlier!"

"Your first name is Camper?" asked Red.

Liam stared at Red as if he were an idiot, while Brock and Lia chuckled.

"No! Now, let's go Geodude!" Liam tossed out a Poké Ball, and a Geodude emerged, and roared energetically.

"Go Mankey!" Mankey was the only choice Red had for these two matches – Tesla would be useless against these dual Ground/Rock types, Kora and Pidgey didn't have any effective moves, and Butterfree was weak to Rock-type moves. Mankey, however, knew two good moves for dealing with Rock-types – Karate Chop and Low Kick. And after their experiences in the Viridian Forest, he was actually willing to listen to Red now.

Mankey also had the advantage of being faster than a living rock, and Red called him to use a Karate Chop on the Geodude. Too slow to evade, the Geodude took the hit and flew backwards some distance. He landed on the ground, out cold.

"~ma! mankey!~" Ha! That was too easy!

"Good job, Mankey!" called out Red, while pondering his next move. Since this is a Rock-type gym, it should be okay to just leave Mankey out and have him deal with whatever comes next. And he still needed a nickname, too... While Red was thinking through possible names, he almost didn't hear Liam send out his next pokémon.

"Awww... Well, Sandshrew, you're up next!" Liam had already recalled the fainted Geodude, and sent out a small sand-loving Mouse Pokemon.

_A Sandshrew? But that's not a rock-type..._ Either the two of them didn't notice that small fact, or just didn't care. Mankey could handle a Sandshrew without too much problem, but then he might take too much damage to fight Brock and win. No, better to save him for later.

"Mankey, return! Go Pidgey!" Red sent out the shiny Pidgey, who gave a cry that might have been intimidating if it wasn't coming from a Pidgey.

_Well, Sand-attack is useless now..._ thought Liam. But there were still other moves his Sandshrew could use! "Sandshrew! Attack with a Scratch!"

"~shrew!~" You got it! The Sandshrew lunged for the Pidgey, who was staying low to the ground and waiting for Red's command. None was given, but the Pidgey felt it best to avoid the Sandshrew's claws, and did so easily. Each swipe was dodged in turn, and rather than fight back, the Pidgey spent his time taunting the poor pangolin.

"~pidgey... pidgpi... gey! pipidg... pipipi!~" What kind of... lame attack... is this? ...I'd be more challenged... by fighting a Caterpie!

"~SHREW!~" SHUTUP! The Sandshrew punctuated this comeback with another Scratch, which the Pidgey backed away from. At the same time, the Pidgey sent out a Gust of wind at the Sandshrew, and the pangolin took moderate damage.

Red told his Pidgey to just keep doing that. Gust got around the problem of Defense Curl. One long string of taunts later, the Sandshrew had had enough and fainted. Liam recalled his completely defeated pokémon and gave some prize money to Red.

"Not bad... but Brock's no joke! Get ready to lose!" Liam stuck his tongue out at Red and headed for the Pokemon Center.

–

Brock spoke up from the back of the Gym. "Well done, Red! But just that won't be enough!" He jumped off his boulder and walked to the center of the Gym.

"It's not enough to just be strong. You need to have the will to carry on, even when victory looks impossible. My own rock-hard willpower is evident in my Pokemon." He brought out a Poké Ball from his pocket. "They're all rock-hard and have true-grit determination! That's the strength of Rock-types!"

Brock tossed out the Poké Ball, sending out a Geodude. This one was bulkier than Liam's Geodude and roared loudly, eager for a match.

Brock laughed confidently. "Are you still going to challenge me, knowing that you're in for a struggle? That's the Trainer's honor that brought you here... You're quite something to be so driven, but I'll judge your willpower for myself! Now then, show me if you're worthy of this Boulder Badge of mine!"

Red nodded. "Alright!" He sent out Mankey once more, who also seemed eager for a fight.

"~mankey? manmankey!~" Another one? This will be easy!

The Geodude growled in response. "~geodude.~" Says you.

Red took the initiative, ordering his Mankey to use Karate Chop. The Mankey lunged for the Geodude, who rolled out of the way. Brock called for a Tackle, and the Mankey side-stepped the blow. The two continued like this until the Mankey landed the first blow.

However, Brock saw it coming and the Geodude curled up defensively right before it hit, reducing the damage. And from that proximity, the Geodude's Tackle hit the Mankey square in the face.

"~KEY! ...keeeeey...~" OW! ...yooouuuuuu...

This was proving to be harder than he thought it would. But Red had trained him to win, so that's what he would do! Red promised him lots of interesting fights, and he didn't want to lose any of them! He screeched at the Geodude, and got into a fighting stance.

As far as Red could tell, Mankey didn't need a Potion yet... But he pulled one out of his bag just in case. No tricks yet from Brock, just pure stubbornness.

Brock judged that Geodude was still good to go, even with the super effective hit. If they could avoid getting hit...

"Geodude, use Rock Throw!" The Geodude roared, picked up a nearby rock, and hurled it at the Mankey. The Mankey jumped away from the projectile and dashed for the Geodude. The Geodude rolled away to another rock, tossed that at the Mankey, missed, rolled away, tossed, missed...

After a few minutes, the Mankey stopped in place, panting, to catch his breath. Red called out to his pokémon, who roared in response... and then coughed a few times. The Geodude had reached another rock by this time, and tossed it at the Mankey. The Mankey side-stepped it, but still got caught on the tail. He squealed in pain and tried to free himself while the Geodude prepared another rock.

"~geo...DUDE!~" Take... THIS!

The Mankey struggled to lift the rock trapping him and failed, so he resorted to using Karate Chop on it. After a few blows, it shattered, and he rolled out of the way of the one headed for him. He remained on the ground, tired, for a few moments, but managed to stand.

"~mamankey...~" Not done yet...

_A Tackle should end this..._ thought Brock. "Geodude, Tackle!"

The Geodude rushed at the Mankey, who was too tired to move out of the way.

Red made a snap decision. "Mankey, counter with a Karate Chop!" Mankey wasn't in much of a condition to dodge recklessly like he was before, which was tiring him out.

The two attacks met, head to hand. The two stood still, and so did their trainers (and Lia). After a few moments, the Geodude fell to the ground, unconscious. The hit was critical.

"No, Geodude!" yelled Brock. "...Nice, Red. But this isn't over yet!"

One of the 'boulders' near Lia revealed itself to be a Golem. The Golem rolled over to the fainted Geodude and brought him aside.

"Mankey, come back!" commanded Red. Mankey needed to sit out for a little while to recover from that battle. The Mankey, protested, claiming he could still fight, but Red won out. Red now one had one Pokemon left with an effective move on Rock-types. He sent out his Butterfree.

The Butterfree looked around at the gym, then turned to Red and asked what was going on. She was told that she'd need to cover for Mankey for a short bit while he recovered.

"~free! freefree!~" OK! Leave it to me!

They turned to face Brock, who had taken care of his fainted Geodude.

"Going with a Bug-type? That's quite brave! Especially when I'm calling out... ONIX!" Instead of tossing out a Poké Ball, Brock pointed at a spot on the ground in front of him. For a few moments nothing happened.

Then, the floor started rumbling. Red and Mankey grabbed onto rocks for support, while Butterfree looked confused.

Then, something enormous erupted from the ground, sending out a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, they could see the rock snake standing about eight meters in height, barely shorter than the ceiling. The Onix let out an immense roar, staring down his puny opponent.

Red, Mankey and Butterfree stared at the giant for a few moments, then turned to each other. The Butterfree was terrified, the Mankey was trying hard to not be impressed by that entrance, and Red was wondering how exactly they were going to beat that thing.

"...butterfree!" ...I'm fighting that!

"man mankey." Eh, I could take him.

"BUTTERFREE!" Then you fight!

"Butterfree, we just need you to hold him off for a few minutes. Mankey can take over from there," said Red. "Can you do that?" _Besides, if Mankey fainted, you would need to fight anyway..._ he thought. Next time he fought a Gym Leader, he should plan better.

"...free." ...OK. The Butterfree seemed to have lost all her eagerness, but was willing to fight for Red. This couldn't be that bad, right? She was only fighting a giant rock snake she had a double type weakness against...

"Butterfree, Confusion!" "Onix, Rock Tomb!" the two trainers ordered at about the same time.

The Butterfree's eyes began to glow blue as she gathered psychic power, while the Onix picked boulders up with its tail and launched them to the ceiling. The boulders began falling down around the Butterfree while she was preparing her attack, and dodging them nearly broke her concentration. But, the Butterfree managed to unleash a weak psychic blast at the Onix, who took some damage.

"~on!~" Ow! That stung a little. The Onix roared at the Butterfree, who was still dodging falling rocks. Brock ordered him to do a Tackle. He lunged at the Butterfree, who barely evaded him. However, Brock seemed pleased.

"Gotcha! Onix, use Bind!" The Onix attempted to squeeze the Butterfree with his rocky body, but the Butterfree slipped out and hit him with another Confusion. Another weak hit. The Onix retaliated by Tackling at the Butterfree, and this one did hit. The blow's force sent the Butterfree flying back to Red, but she was still conscious. Though a little weary.

Red wanted Butterfree out before a stray rock hit her and knocked her out.

"Butterfree, get back! Ready, Mankey?"

The Mankey nodded.

"Then, let's go! Use Low Kick!" With Onix's sheer size and weakness, one hit should be enough – thanks to those weak hits Butterfree gave them. While he had switched out Pokemon, Brock had taken the time to set up another Rock Tomb. Rocks crashed down around the Mankey as he rushed at the Onix's tail – where it was balanced.

One stray rock grew too close to him, and he Karate Chopped it away. Brock ordered the Onix to Tackle the Mankey; the Onix charged for the Mankey and missed. The Mankey, seeing an opportunity, jumped onto the Onix's head.

"Rock Tomb again!" barked out Brock. Thanks to the Onix's Rock Head ability, his own rocks wouldn't hurt him. More rocks were launched, and the Onix swung its body around to throw off the Mankey. Or get this pest hit by a rock. Either would've been fine.

The Mankey tried to hold on, but failed. Launched into the air, he angled himself so he'd land on one of the rocks the Onix had tossed out so carelessly (everyone else had moved further away from the battle) and began jumping between them.

"Tackle!" Brock frowned. This Red kid was a good trainer, to be able to teach his Pokemon to react like that to his moves. He wasn't expecting this...

The Onix repeatedly lunged for the Mankey, who jumped from boulder to boulder, evading the hits. Eventually, he made his way back to the ground. The Onix prepared to use Rock Tomb again, and Mankey dashed to reach him before that happened. With all his strength, the Mankey kicked out the Onix's center of balance from under him, and the giant rock snake came down to earth with a mighty crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The Mankey jumped back onto the Onix's head and roared proudly.

The Onix did not stir once the dust settled again. The hit was a solid knockout blow.

Red and Butterfree went over to the cheering pig-monkey. Red let out a "Yes!" and said "Good job!" to both Mankey and Butterfree. He pat them on the head; they looked pleased.

Brock recalled his Onix and walked over to Red. "Well done, Red. I took your skill for granted, so I lost. As proof of your victory..." From a shirt pocket, he pulled out a badge in the shape of a gray octagon. "...you've earned this. The official Boulder Badge!" Brock handed the badge over to Red, who looked it over. It was plain, which seemed to fit Pewter City well.

Brock continued. "Just having that badge makes your Pokemon feel more powerful. You can also not use the Hidden Machine move Flash outside of battle. Of course, you'd need to find that HM first..."

Red nodded and thanked him. He could look for that later; he had to catch up to Blue!

But before he could dash out of the Gym, Brock called to him again. "Wait! Have this too." Brock handed him a brown CD. "That's Technical Machine #39, Rock Tomb. TMs can be used to teach Pokemon moves they don't normally learn, but they're only good for one use at the moment. So choose wisely! This one contains Rock Tomb, a move that... well, you saw it."

Red thanked Brock again, and put the TM in his TM Case.

"There are all kinds of trainers in this world, and you appear to be a very gifted one. You could go far, so I suggest you go on to Cerulean City and challenge Misty for her badge. A friendly warning, though. Misty is very... energetic."

Red recalled his two pokémon. He didn't know what Brock meant by that, but decided to look out for her anyway. Hopefully, Blue hadn't already beaten her and moved on.

"I can deal with Water-types." Next Gym match, Tesla would handle. He could probably do it by himself easily if he weren't so lazy, but with the rest of his team, defeating Misty should be a snap!

Red left the Gym, followed by Lia.

"That was an awesome match! Thanks for letting me watch it. Good luck finding that Blue guy! And make sure to come back! Then you can take on Brock's real team." Red promised he would, and Lia then left him. He headed for the Pokémon Center to heal his team and rest up.

–

The next morning, Red left Pewter City with a refreshed team, some useful items, and his first badge. As he headed for Mt. Moon, Lia's parting words struck him again.

_Wait, what was that about Brock's real team?_


	5. In the Wake of Misty

Chapter 5 – In the Wake of Misty

Now that Red wasn't on "official Gym business" as he claimed before, all the trainers along Route 4 wanted to challenge him. He took them all on; after fighting Brock and his Onix, he found all these trainers easy to beat.

There wasn't much else on Route 4, a grassy path cutting through mountains and leading to the caves of Mt. Moon, to do. He continued into the familiar caves. With his map, he managed to get through the underground passageways without getting lost. While in the cave, he decided to catch a Geodude and a Paras – one because he would need it for the 3rd Gym, the other because there was barely any information on its PokéDex entry.

Paras, being his seventh Pokémon, would be sent to the Pokémon Storage System. Bill, the one who designed it, lived near Cerulean City, and could send the Paras from there to Prof. Oak's Laboratory.

Red also tried to find a Clefairy, but none could be found. Well, he could always come back.

Now that Team Rocket had been cleared out of the mountain, trainers and hikers flooded back in. Some of them challenged Red too, and he took them on. Upon leaving the cave, he judged his team to be in a good state to take on the Cerulean Gym – thanks to all those battles. He left all of them out, and all of them except Butterfree greeted the newcomer.

"The next Gym is a Water-type Gym. Tesla, you'll handle this."

Tesla yawned. "~pikaaaa...~" If I must... He didn't care too much for this journey. But Red did, so he could do this for his long-time friend. Even if it meant missing a nap.

"Alright then..." Red recalled the rest of his team. Tesla jumped up to Red's head and rested on his cap. "You're getting heavier, you know."

"~pi? pika...~" Oh? Oh well...

Tesla went back to sleep, but managed to latch onto Red's cap somehow. Red chuckled and kept going for Cerulean. While trekking the downhill path, he saw two martial artists on a small grassy plateau, training. One of them turned and saw him, and yelled to him.

"Hey! You're a trainer, right?"

Red nodded, pausing in his tracks. Was this a challenge?

"Get over here! I'll teach your Pokémon a good move – Mega Punch!"

The other martial artist stopped his training and interrupted his partner. "Don't listen to this fool! His Mega Punch pales before my Mega Kick!" The man then kicked up at the air for effect.

"Big talk! Let's see you back that up!" The two of them then began sparring, ignoring Red once more. He disregarded them and ran to Cerulean.

–

Cerulean City was home to several attractions. Many small flower gardens adorned the city, adding a beautiful flair and a nice aroma to the city. Tesla occasionally took deep breaths and sighed peacefully after taking in the scents. There was a bike shop here, which Red needed to visit after he got his 2nd badge. Without it, there's no way he could catch up to Blue, who already owned one. The Cerulean Cave, where strong Pokémon dwell, lurked on the city's outskirts, across a river. The Elite Four sometimes went there to train. North of the city was the Cerulean Cape, a hill overseeing the ocean. Bill, the inventor of the Pokémon Storage System, owned a cottage at the Cape and occasionally could be found there. Cerulean was also a prime fishing spot.

But the most important of all of these – and not just to Red – was the Cerulean Gym, which also doubled as both an aquarium and a public swimming pool. Athletes from all over often came to the Gym to practice and the Gym would be shut down for that day, as Misty used the pool to hold her battles. Thankfully, that had not happened today and the Gym remained open.

Red entered the gym. Before him was the Gym's pool, with a few floating platforms situated in the middle of it. At the other end stood a tall lifeguard's chair, with a set of stairs coming off of it. No one was sitting on it. A few swimmers were in the pool, floating around.

None of them were Misty. Red looked around, wondering where he should go. While fretting, one of the swimmers noticed him looking around, lost.

"Hey, what are you looking for?"

Red turned to the male swimmer. "The Gym leader."

"She went out to lunch. Come back in an hour or two."

Red didn't think that it took an hour or two to eat lunch, but maybe this guy knew something he didn't. Well, if he had extra time, he might as well use it for those other things he had to do...

–

After leaving the gym, Red went over to the south side of the city and went into the Bike Shop. Various models and parts were scattered all over the shop's tile floor. A middle-aged man stood behind a counter at the back of the store. He greeted Red as Red entered.

"What are you looking for?" asked the man.

"Just a bike..." replied Red. But he didn't know that there were so many types. Which one did Blue have again? He found one that looked close enough to it, and pointed at it. "How much for this one?"

"Hm... I think that one's around a million or so."

"I can't afford that..."

"Sorry! That's a high-end model, one of the best ones we have. But if you come back with a Bike Voucher, you can have it. How about that?"

Red nodded and left, seeing that all of the other bikes were also out of his price range. He needed to find a Bike Voucher, but where were they?

–

As Red was heading north, he passed by a house where a few policemen were situated. Curious, he walked over to them. As he approached, he heard them mention something about Team Rocket and breaking and entering. He scowled.

One of the policemen heard him approach and tried to turn him away. "Hey! Go away kid! We're in the middle of an investigation here! Some Team Rocket thugs broke into this house and stole some valuable items."

"I see... Officer, the Pewter City Gym Leader and I fought off some Rocket grunts yesterday in Mt. Moon. Could these grunts be the same ones?"

The officer blinked. The others, overhearing, stepped closer. More Team Rocket activity?

"Kids like you shouldn't be involved with this! ...Not that we don't appreciate the help. But if you see more Rocket grunts leave them to us! Or to the Gym Leaders and other strong Trainers."

One of the other officers spoke up. "Hey now, this kid's a Trainer too! He should help us any way he can. It's not like we know what Team Rocket's doing, not after they attacked Oak's Lab."

"Exactly why he should be careful!"

Red interrupted the two. "Do you know where they went?" He didn't want to leave knowing that Team Rocket was running about with other people's precious things. The policemen all shook their heads. Red left them alone, defeated. Paying no attention to where he was going, he managed to bump into someone and fell over backwards.

"Watch where you're going!" yelled the person. The voice sounded feminine. Red looked up and found that he'd bumped into Misty, Cerulean's Gym Leader. She appeared annoyed, and was eating a sandwich.

"Sorry."

"You should be!" She held her other hand out to him and helped him up. Red picked up Tesla, who had woken up again after landing on the ground. "Who are you anyway? Never seen you around here before."

"I'm Red, from Pallet Town. I came to challenge you."

Misty glanced at him. This kid didn't look strong enough to take her on yet. But it's not like she had anything better to do besides finish her sandwich, as no one knew if those Rocket grunts would ever come back.

"Alright. We'll make this easy. One on one. You win, you get the badge. Sounds good?"

Red nodded. He followed her back to the Gym and they took their opposing sides on the swimming pool, Misty in front of her lifeguard's chair. She sent out a Starmie, who floated gracefully into the pool using its psychic powers. Red sent out Tesla, who slowly walked up to the pool and hopped onto a platform.

The other trainers, and a few non-trainers, sat around the water's edge to watch the match.

"Ready?" asked Misty. Red and Tesla nodded, one more eager than the other. Tesla yawned.

Red called for Tesla to start with a Thunder Shock. The Starmie floated out of the way of the electricity and Misty called for it to fire a Swift attack. Small sharp stars swiftly flew through the air at Tesla. He couldn't dodge them as they followed him around the platforms. The Starmie continued its assault.

Tesla eventually decided to jump into the pool, think that they couldn't follow him there. It turned out that he was right. Misty commanded the Starmie to follow him. The Pikachu couldn't stay underwater very long, so Starmie had to press the environmental advantage.

_Starmie, use Rapid Spin to draw him in! Then use Water Gun!_ thought Misty at the inexplicably psychic starfish. The Starmie's gem glowed once, and its back half began spinning rapidly. It jetted itself at the far less mobile Tesla, who had to take the hit. It followed the attack up with a Water Gun, forcing the air out of Tesla's lungs and forcing him to swim out of the pool.

The drenched Pikachu weakly crawled onto a floating platform... and was promptly hit in the back by more Swift stars. He fell over, unconscious and shivering. The Starmie floated over the downed mouse in victory, gem flashing.

_VICTORY ACHEIVED_ it thought at Misty. Misty recalled her Starmie. Red recalled Tesla.

"Looks like you weren't ready for my all-out offense! You'll need more than just a type advantage to take me on! ...Hey, don't look so down. It's just one match. You're just like that last kid who came here..."

Red stared at Misty, who didn't know that he looked distressed. Blue lost here too?

"...So I'll tell you the same thing I told him. Go take on the trainers at the Cerulean Cape. Then this might become a fair match. Got it? You have to have a good policy about Pokémon before you can turn pro."

_A good policy...?_ thought Red. What did she man by that? Using the type advantage was his strategy, yes, but did she mean something beyond that?

"Helloooo~... Still there, Red?"

Red nodded, still shaken by how easily she beat him. He ran out of the Gym to go heal Tesla.

Misty sighed. What was up with these Pallet Town kids?

–

Red left the Pokémon Center with a fully healed Tesla. He had thought that the training he did before was enough, but he was wrong. Misty's advice was to have a good policy about Pokémon... It seemed her policy is an all-out offense with her Water-types, and Tesla isn't the kind of Pokémon that can deal with that. The Pikachu didn't have that kind of drive.

But maybe he could gain one?

"Hey kid!"

Red turned to the person speaking. He was a man with glasses and short, dark hair, wearing a blue shirt.

"Yo, champ-in-the-making! Red's your name, right?"

Red nodded. And he still had a long way to go before he became a Champion.

"Listen up! Misty's a pro, alright, but you can take her on! But you have to stop her from putting on her pressure by using your own! Your Pikachu needs to be more aggressive. A few good zaps with electricity will take out her Water-types. Got it?"

Red nodded again.

"OK! I'm not a trainer, but I can help you win! With my advice, you'll go all the way to the top!"

"Alright... but why are you helping me?" Red asked.

"I got a good feeling about you kid. Now get going!"

Satisfied with that answer, Red headed for the Cerulean Cape. First, he hit a bridge, with six people standing on one side. One of them noticed him, and he walked up to Red. The kid, a Bug Catcher, explained that if Red beat five of them in a battle, he'd win a prize! Red took on their challenge and called out the refreshed Tesla. Tesla yawned while stretching, expecting a match.

The Bug Catcher sent out a Caterpie. Red took the initiative, and Tesla's Slam attack knocked out the bug in one hit. The kid sent out a Weedle; the same thing happened. A Metapod and Kakuna fell the same way, netting Red his first victory. The Bug Catcher hand Red some prize-money and stepped back so the next challenger could step up – this time, a Lass.

The Lass was also defeated quickly. A Youngster followed her – his Sandshrew was a little challenging to them, but still fell. The kid lost. So did the second Lass that followed him. And the same for the Camper, though Tesla was thoroughly exhausted by fighting his Mankey. The five defeated kids all walked over to the Cerulean Pokémon Center together, leaving Red, Tesla, and the sixth alone.

"Tesla! Good job!" called Red.

"~pikaaa...pikapi?~" Yeaah... Are we done? After being beaten up by a super-aggressive Starmie and fighting five battles in a row, he was good and ready for a nice nap on some fine pillows. Sleeping on the grass would work too.

Red frowned. Tesla hadn't found his battle drive yet.

"Congratulations!" said the sixth person, a man wearing a white cap that obscured his face. "Here's your prize!" The man handed a gold nugget over to Red, who looked at it oddly while holding it. Aren't these nuggets rare and incredibly valuable? What was this guy doing just handing them out to trainers? Maybe it's a fake...

The man continued. "And I must say that I haven't seen anyone take out these kids so quickly and effortlessly. I'm amazed! You've got some real talent! We could use kids like you in our group!"

Red raised an eyebrow. This was a recruitment drive? What for?

Tesla yawned again, not caring about the man's words. He trotted over to Red's feet and sat down. Red healed him with some of the items in his bag. The man eyed some of Red's goods.

"And I can see that you've already got a Badge! We definitely need someone like you in Team Rocket! So, join us! How about it?"

Red and Tesla blinked, wondering if this was some kind of joke – and what the punch line would be. He just beat up some of their guys yesterday! And after what they had done long before then, and everything else they were doing now, he could never join them, and said as much. In fact, he ought to go back to Cerulean, find those policemen and...

The Rocket grunt interrupted him. "Fine then! I guess we'll do this the hard way!" The grunt pulled out two Poké Balls from his pocket and sent out his party – A Zubat and an Ekans. Red sent out K2, his Geodude, to back up Tesla, but K2 didn't do much. Tesla turned up his effort and took down the Rocket grunt's Pokémon by himself.

"Gah! Useless weak Pokémon! I'll remember this!" yelled the grunt as he ran towards Cerulean, abandoning his team. Red followed the man back into the city, recalling his two Pokémon and picking up the two fainted ones. He didn't know what Team rocket was up to, but if they needed more thugs to do it, it might be big. And had to be stopped.

The grunt, as soon as he entered Cerulean, turned towards the east, past the house he had helped hit a few days ago. They had stolen some copies of a Technical Machine #28 for their boss. He had said that the machine contained the move Dig, which was used to teach Pokémon how to escape caverns. He had a theory that it could also be used to break into caverns – and maybe into and out of buildings as well! Imagine being able to break into a Pokémon Center, snatch all of those Pokémon and escape so easily! It still made him giddy, but he had to maintain form now.

The kid was still on his tail, even while carrying those weak Pokémon he left behind. Attachment like that was useless! But if that's how the kid was raised, then it couldn't be helped. Now that he'd been spotted, he had to flee, and regroup with the others.

Unfortunately, some of Cerulean's police officers were hanging out around that ransacked house. After stealing the TM, they tested it to make sure it was legit. Now there was a massive hole in the back, left by a Sandshrew. They probably had that Sandshrew too… Eh, whatever. There's plenty of them. They can just grab some more.

However, he had the insight to not go around wearing his Rocket uniform in public, so they paid him no mind as he passed them. They paid a lot of attention to that kid following him, though. If they got distracted, then he was home free to head to the Rock Tunnel and lose them!

The officers turned to the kid. "Hey! You again!?" yelled one. "What are you doing with those two Pokémon!?"

The kid responded, "They belong to that guy up there! He's in Team Rocket!"

Uh oh.

"WHAT!?" yelled all of the officers. A Growlithe was out among them, and it growled and started barking in his direction. Maybe dumping his Pokémon wasn't the best idea…

The Growlithe started chasing him. He changed direction and headed south. He could lose them in the city and go to Celadon instead. Yeah, that would be…

His train of thought was interrupted as he fell over, something tripping him. Someone. Someone who walked in front of him, casting a shadow over him. Cerulean's Gym Leader, Misty. A Starmie floated behind her, gem glowing healthily. He bet the Boss would really appreciate that Starmie if he could snatch it somehow.

"I bet he would," said Misty. "Too bad he's not getting it!"

How did she… Wait, Starmie's part-Psychic. That meant that now she knew he was in Team Rocket. And the barking was getting louder and louder… This was not his day.

When Red finally caught up to the disguised grunt, he was already being apprehended by the Cerulean Police. Misty was standing to the side, thanking her Starmie and recalling it. He wasn't ready to see her yet, so maybe he should leave and come back…

"I know you're there, Red," said Misty.

Red froze in place. Misty walked over to him.

"Thanks for your help. I had no idea Team Rocket had taken over the bridge. Guess I need to be more careful… What are you going to do with that Zubat and that Ekans?"

"Give them to the Pokémon Center." That's what Brock did.

"I see… Why don't you raise them, though?"

"They're not mine to raise."

Misty smiled. That's a good answer. "Well, whenever you're ready, come find me. Don't keep me waiting too long~~!" Misty walked away, waving at Red. Red blinked, and headed for the Pokémon Center. He wasn't ready yet, but maybe Bill could help him…

He left those two Pokémon with Nurse Joy, who thanked him for bringing them to her. She promised to take care of them. He also had Tesla healed, and the two of them headed for the Cape once more. Tesla relaxed on Red's head again as he walked to the north.

"Tesla."

"~pi?~" Hm?

"When you were up against that Rocket grunt… why don't you fight like that all the time?"

"~kapiiiiikapi~" Becauuuuuse he's Team Rocket, replied the electric mouse, yawning. He didn't have a good reason to fight anyone else like that. Not like that Starmie, or most of Red's other Pokémon, who seemed to like fighting for the sake of fighting.

"…Y'know if you fought like that earlier, we'd already be heading for Vermillion right now. We could finish faster if you did…"

"~pi~" Eh. The Pikachu didn't seem to care either way. Red sighed. Red asked if Tesla could try a little harder next time, and Tesla guessed that he could. Red supposed that was good enough for now. A trainer was approaching, and now it was time to battle! Red needed to do work on his end, as well. There had to be a hole in Misty's offense somewhere…

As Misty said, the trainers at the cape were quite strong, but Red and Tesla managed to take them out… with the occasional assist from the rest of the team. But he didn't feel any closer to taking down Misty, especially with Tesla just going along with him rather than actually wanting to win on his own. But Tesla just wasn't aggressive in most cases. The Starmie would pick him apart again unless Red could fix that.

They approached Bill's cottage. It looked the same as the houses in Cerulean, except that the roof was green instead of blue. A mailbox sat in front of the cottage, addressed to the man himself. A chimney poked out of the roof. Red thought that the inventor of the Pokémon Storage System could afford to live in a better place, but maybe he liked it here. It looked cozy.

Tesla's ears perked up. He could hear light footsteps from inside.

"~pikachu~" He's inside.

Red knocked on the door. "Hello? Bill?"

"Umm… hold on a sec." For a guy, Bill's voice seemed oddly high pitched.

The door was opened by what looked like a human-sized and human-shaped Clefairy with brown hair. But Clefairy didn't normally have hair! And where was Bill?

The Clefairy began speaking, which was even weirder. "I could really use your help kid! My machine accidently mixed some Clefairy DNA with my own, and now I'm stuck like this!"

"…Wait, so you're Bill?" Didn't see that coming.

"Well, I sure hope I am! Now I'll show you how to work the teleporter…" The Bill-Clefairy hybrid promptly dived into a complex explanation involving cellular biology and quantum mechanics. It was very interesting, but Red hardly understood most of it. He did get that running Bill back through the machine after changing some of the settings would fix him, and managed to succeed in doing exactly that.

"Thanks, uhhh…"

"Red."

"Red! Thanks, Red! Now did you come here for something or just to chat? The coffee I made earlier should be just about ready to drink…"

Bill didn't have a couch... or much furniture at all. The teleporter took up most of the cottage space. But there was a fireplace, a cot and a few chairs scattered around. Red took a set on a wooden chair while Bill stepped into a small kitchen. He returned with three mugs and a pot of steaming coffee, and poured some out for all of them.

"I forgot to get cream and milk this week, so I hope you don't mind it black… Anyway, what did y'all come here for?"

Red explained that he had a Para stored in the PSS, and that he wanted it to go to Oak's Lab. Same for any other Pokémon that ended up in the PSS.

"Yeah, I can do that. It'll just take a minute or two!" Bill scribbled the request down on a notepad on his desk. "I can fit that in between working on the teleporter. Right now it's only good for moving Pokémon around in Kanto and Johto, but I want to link us up with Hoenn and Sinnoh… maybe even some international regions! Then it'll be easier for researchers from different regions to collaborate with each other, and for Trainers to trade their Pokémon across regions. 'Course, I'll need to prevent DNA mixing from happening in mid-move, but I think I've got it figured out! You see…"

Bill saw that Red was anxiously fidgeting and his Pikachu was wandering around the cottage, obviously bored with his talk. He sighed. "I don't wanna bore you, kid."

"You're not! It's the coffee!" Red stood up, excitedly, fidgeting. "This thing is really cool! I hope you get it to work! I'm just a little anxious about fighting Misty again!"

"Ah, you're a wandering trainer, are you? Well, catching a Pikachu was a smart choice."

"Yeah, but he doesn't like fighting! Unless it's Team Rocket!" Tesla didn't respond to the remarks at all, not listening despite his great hearing ability.

"Oh? Reminds me of my Abra… but after a few fights, he started to get the hang of it. He's even evolved to an Alakazam! I just encouraged him to fight well, even when he couldn't do much. If you do that, I think you'll see a difference."

"You think so!?"

"Yep! Now I don't wanna keep you here if y'all have training to do… but here, take this. I won't be able to make it there anyway; I'm way too busy here." Bill handed Red a ticket; Red gave him back his mug. Tesla's mug was sitting on the floor where he left it. "It's for the S.S. Anne. You'll need to be there in a few days in you want to make it. Got it?"

Red nodded. He called to Tesla, who walked over to him. The two of them left Bill.

"Been a while since my last visitor… I wonder how Celio's doing."

"Tesla, were you listening to us?"

The two of them were strolling along down Route 25. Sweet scents from the flowers and bushes floated around them, carried by the wind. There was also a hint of salt, from the sea so close to them. Tesla was far more active than usual, ears constantly twitching and head turning to every interesting noise and smell. Must have been the coffee.

Come to think of it, Red had never seen Tesla drink coffee before…

"~pipikapi~" Notreallyno

"Well, Bill gave me a ticket for the S.S. Anna, a luxury boat. We should go there after we beat Misty and relax for a little bit." Red flashed the ticket at Tesla, who turned around to see it, now walking backwards. "So do your best, all right?"

"~pika!~" Iwill! Now Red was talking his language!

They continued on, back to Cerulean. Back for more.

Red's first stop was the Pokémon Center, and Tesla was brought back to full health. Feeling ready, they also stopped by the Pokémon Mart to grab some items for the road. They could arrive in Vermillion midday tomorrow if they left as soon as they could.

The two of them re-entered the Gym. Misty was sitting on her lifeguard's chair, reading a book, while people were swimming around in the pool. Red called out to Misty, who looked startled. The kid could only have been out for an hour or two! But he and his Pikachu looked more than ready for a re-match. In fact, the Pikachu leapt out onto one of the pool's floating platforms, startling some of the swimmers.

Misty sent out Starmie and told everyone to get out of the water. The Starmie floated down to the pool's surface as she stepped down the lifeguard's ladder. The swimmers all crowded around at the pool's edge.

"Same rules as last time. One on one. You win, you get this badge." Misty held out a Cascade Badge for Red to see, and then stashed it in a pocket. "Ready?"

"Tesla, ThunderShock!"

Misty took that as a yes. The Starmie easily hovered around the electric shocks, even as Tesla was hopping around platforms to get closer to it. Starmie retaliated with Water Pulses, but the Pikachu energetically hopped around them.

_YOU SEEM DIFFERENT - MOTIVATED_ thought the Starmie at Tesla.

_Whoa! Get out of my head!_ thought Tesla back, punctuating it with another ThunderShock. The Starmie avoided it, and launched a Swift attack. Rather than trying to run away from the unavoidable attack, as they had learned by looking through the PokéDex, Tesla just took the weak hit.

This wasn't working. The Starmie was too swift to attack from a range! "Tesla, use Slam!"

"~PIKA~" OK! Tesla charged at the Starmie, hopping from platform to platform, wildly flailing its tail at the Starmie in hopes for a hit. But the Starmie kept evading them. Luckily, it wasn't having any better luck with its own attacks, other than the unavoidable Swifts.

_It's like it knows how Tesla's going to attack! It must be glancing into his mind with its Psychic powers! But… there's a way around that!_ Red grinned. If the Starmie was using Tesla's thoughts against him, then Tesla just had to stop thinking about his attacks.

"Tesla! Attack randomly!"

"~PI?~" WHY!? yelled back the mouse after dodging another Water Pulse.

"Just do your best!"

Not having any better ideas, Tesla went along with Red's plan – and started moving on auto-pilot, dodging Water Pulses on reflex, retaliating with ThunderShock and Thunder Wave. On accident, he used both in quick succession, and the Starmie was hit by the Thunder Wave. Paralyzed and distracted, it slowed in its frantic hovering. Tesla almost caught it with a Slam, but – on reflex again – followed up with a stronger-than-usual ThunderShock. The bolt of lightning hit the Starmie dead on, and it fell to the pool, floating on its surface.

_WELL… DONE… OW…_ it thought at Tesla.

Tesla sighed in relief and a faint joy. Red, in the distance, cheered for his win. The Pikachu smiled. This wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be, after all.

Misty recalled her Starmie, and Tesla hopped back over to Red. They re-convened on her side of the pool. "Wow! That was awesome! Your Pikachu was just too much for me this time! You can have this Cascade Badge now." Misty handed the blue teardrop-shaped badge over to Red, who handed it to Tesla. The Pikachu admired it for a second before starting to gnaw on it. He then gave it back to Red, making a face at him.

"That badge is a sign of authority to Pokémon – when they see it, they'll recognize your skill and listen to you. But that only goes so far. Also, have this – it's my favorite TM, TM03. Use it to teach a Pokémon the move Water Pulse." Misty handed a blue CD over to Red. He took it and placed it in his TM Case, and then walked over to the Gym's exit with Tesla.

"Hey, Red!"

Red turned back to Misty.

"I'm going to keep training! You should come back so we can have another match!"

Red smiled and nodded. Tesla tried to look uncaring, but he felt that a re-match here would be just fine. Especially if he could take a good nap after it. The two of them left the Gym, heading for the Pokémon Center once more.


	6. Dig Me!

Chapter 6 – Dig Me!

There is a house in Cerulean that was home to an old digger.

As a child, this man once went into the Diglett's Cave, an underground cavern by Vermilion City. He found the Digletts – elongated moles with bulbous pink noses, who only ever poked their heads from the soil even in a cave – fascinating, as all they did was dig. Dig and dig, all under Kanto and Johto. He saw them dig and followed them. He saw them dig, and helped them.

Eventually, he left Vermilion and his home, and migrated to Cerulean. But before he left, someone discovered what he had left behind – an underground path for people as well as Diglett. A hidden path for all the diggers, big and small. He settled down, and dug up a love for a girl – and for his children. And their children.

But the soil and warm earth still called to him. Shuddering, heaving earth!

First, the holes were small. He didn't anyone to notice them, such sloppy things. He was working on technique. Because there was a way for a man to dig like a Diglett! That's what he thought.

The holes grew bigger. Eventually, one of his kids noticed him digging in the middle of the night. He didn't want to disturb them, and yet he had. But when he explained himself to his family, and expected them to rebuke him – they instead welcomed him, fully. They felt that he was holding something dear to himself under the soil, keeping it buried from them. But now that it was revealed, it too joined their family.

One day, one of the digger's children returned from Mt. Moon with one of the local Pokémon – a Geodude. It watched him while he was digging, and mimicked him on occasion. But its form was terrible, and he couldn't take that at all! So he thought the Pokémon how to Dig like a man and a Diglett did!

The two of them were found in a large hole at the outskirts of Celadon City. They dug their way back home and covered their mess behind them, laughing joyfully alongside the overturned soil the whole way. And the old man realized something then – that Pokémon other than Diglett could still dig like one. He didn't know how many could, but those whose hearts beat with the earth… those ones could, for sure! As Pokémon passed through Cerulean, he taught those who could how to Dig like him – and like those Diglett!

The old man passed away peacefully. He was found in a hole, cradled by Diglett. He was buried in his backyard, and the soil over his grave was continuously overturned by passing and unseen Diglett. Flowers grew over his grave. They spread across Cerulean City.

His techniques were not buried with him, as he had passed them down to his children. And they passed them down, and down, and down. Even when Silph Co. approached them and made the digger's digging style into a Technical Machine, they still passed on that move.

No one knows for sure when that digger lived, but they know that he must have – his family still lives in Cerulean today. And they still have the TM. Rather, they had the TM. For this tale is told all across Kanto, so it was natural that a Rocket Grunt had heard it once, as a child…

Earth shuddered and heaved. Soil was shoved aside carelessly.

A muscled hand emerged from the overturned soil, followed by its twin. They carved out a hole, connecting the underground path back to the surface. The digger, a Machop, grunted softly as it crawled out of the hole. It held out a hand to the hole, and a gloved human hand took it.

The Rocket Grunt and his Machop lay low in someone's backyard in Cerulean City. The grunt pulled his goggles up over his head and examined the damage that his comrades left behind. The hole they left was covered up with police tape, but no one was standing there, looking for intruders. That was good for them.

The grunt reached under his hat, and pulled out a brown CD contained within an individual TM case. Written on the case was 'TM28' and 'DIG – ORIGINAL MASTER COPY.' His goal was to return it without getting caught, which should be easy enough. But there were faint voices emanating from inside, so they couldn't go at it yet. And unfortunately, he was still wearing his Rocket get-up, too…

He sighed. The Machop looked at him, curious. He didn't answer, but he did hand the TM to the Fighting-type. The Machop held it carefully, knowing he could easily shatter the disc and ruin their mission.

The grunt whispered, "Go put that TM over there," and pointed at the tape. If the officers or that family didn't find it, that was their problem. But he wasn't going to over-complicate this and be found out. The Machop obeyed him and walked over to the tape.

Unfortunately, there was a trap laid there and the Machop stepped on it. Loud alarms rang out. He could hear a sudden flurry of activity from inside. The Machop jumped back in shock, then froze, confused. He called it over; it hurried to him. "We gotta get out of here! U-!"

"FREEZE!" yelled three police officers at once. Their command was punctuated by the barking of Growlithe.

"On second thought, run!" The two of them hopped the fence and took off. They could lose the officers near the Rock Tunnel, to the east. There were people out and about, but they didn't stop him at all – satisfied with standing aside and letting the police handle it. Well, too bad, they weren't going to catch him!

By chance, his Machop happened to look up, and it shoved him out of the way of falling rocks. The Machop effortlessly crushed all those threatening him. It returned to a fighting stance, and roared ahead.

The roar was returned by a Geodude, holding more rocks, ready to go. Standing behind it was a kid clad in red, arms crossed. A Butterfree floated by the kid's head, looking about as intimidating as a Butterfree could.

He could hear the police catching up. He stood up and took the TM back from his Machop. They would have to fight their way out of this one. Hopefully, this Machop knew what to do better than he did. And to make things even, he sent out a Drowzee that a higher-up had given to him. Not that he knew much about Drowzee.

"Out of the way, kid! Machop, Drowzee, attack!"

The Machop rushed forward while the Drowzee hung back to cast a Hypnosis attack. However, the Butterfree flew over them while shedding a fine dust from its wings – and the two Pokémon fell asleep instantly. The Butterfree followed this up with Confusion on the Machop, and the Geodude launched all of its rocks at the Drowzee. The attacks knocked the two Pokémon out.

"I lost so quickly…" Maybe that was what he got for not actually training his Pokémon. But he tried doing that! And that didn't work either! So what was he supposed to do?

Whatever it was, it didn't include escape. The police were right behind him, calling for him to surrender. He recalled his two Pokémon, and put his hands up. Being in Team Rocket was supposed to make him strong, but he was still a loser…

Red watched as the police officers led the Rocket Grunt away. K2 began gloating about his victory to Honey, Red's Butterfree, who didn't seem to care too much. In fact, she flew to some nice looking flowers instead, prompting the Geodude to roar indignantly.

There seemed to be quite a bit of Rocket activity centered on Cerulean, yet Red couldn't find any hidden Rocket outposts anywhere. So he had to wonder why the two grunts chose this city, out of all others, to appear. He called to his two Pokémon, who followed him back to the Pokémon Center. They had a small facility where wandering trainers like him could rest overnight for free. In the morning, it was off for Vermilion – and a short rest!

As he passed by the house the Rockets had invaded, he saw the officers there talking to the family that lived there. They saw him too, and waved him over.

"This kid here helped us catch the grunt with your Dig TM," said one of the officers.

"Did you? Thanks so much!" spoke a lady who looked about as old as Red's mom. Speaking of Mom, maybe he should call her while in Vermilion and tell her how he's doing.

"We ought to give you something as thanks… I know! How about I teach a Pokémon of yours how to Dig!" added a man standing next to the lady. He seemed pleased to know that the TM thief had been captured – and by a kid, no less! "That Geodude of yours can learn it. It's a move you can move to move around underground."

K2 perked up. A new move? That sounded cool!

He roared eagerly.

"I think that's a yes," said Red.

Red left the next morning for Vermilion City. If the date on the S.S. Ticket was accurate, he had three days left until the S.S. Anne left Vermilion for a leisure cruise around the Sevii Islands. The S.S. Anne was a boat that traveled all across the world, and he was lucky that it was just going around in a circle and returning to Vermilion.

Going between Cerulean and Vermilion took far less than a day, leaving him plenty of time to visit the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City and train a little. Additionally, S.S. Anne was billed as a luxury cruise line for Pokémon Trainers, meaning the more restless members of his team could find opponents to challenge. Unfortunately, the gate to Saffron was blocked off, so he would need to use another path to Vermilion – the North-South Underground Path.

The entrance was just to the east of the gate, contained in an unremarkable yellow building. Nothing lived down in there, but litter and junk items had been scattered around the floor, left by careless people.

Red managed to exit the path with all of his goods remaining. The ending staircase was situated in a small building just south of Saffron City's southern gate. Roadblocks were placed in front of that gate, along with a helpful sign warning people to watch out for 'suspicious activity' and 'possible gang members.'

Given that Saffron City not only had a Psychic-type Gym ran by a powerful esper, but also the Fighting Dojo, Red felt confident that they could handle whatever Team Rocket threw at them.

He continued to the south, taking on some of the trainers along Route 6.

As soon as he reached the end of Route 6 and entered Vermilion City proper, he could see its most important feature – the Vermilion Port – to the south, and he could see a massive ship waiting there, a runway extended to the port. The phrase 'S.S. ANNE' was stamped on its side.

Well, now he knew where to go.

His first stop, as usual, was the Pokémon Center. After that, he headed for the Pokémon Fan Club, as there was little else for trainers to do in Vermilion City. Its primary asset was the ocean.

Red thought he would find trainers in there to battle, but instead he found those who focused on raising Pokémon for Pokémon Contests rather than battles. Still, he listened to their chatter and decided to join them. As a reward, the chairman gave him a Bike Voucher. Red thanked him, and immediately headed back to Cerulean.

He returned the next day on a bicycle.

Not wanting to challenge the Gym yet, he decided to wander around on Route 11 and challenge any trainers that might be there. However, a sleeping Snorlax prevented access beyond the entrance to Diglett's Cave. He pulled out his PokéDex and pointed it at the Sleeping Pokémon. Among other things, it claimed that sleeping Snorlax were nearly impossible to wake up with anything other Poke Flute music or extremely loud explosives. Seeing as he had neither, he had to give up on Route 11.

Dejected, he went back to Vermilion and walked around the port. Several fishermen were out, hoping for a good catch. One of them noticed him, and asked if he wanted to join them. He nodded, and the man – who called himself a Fishing Guru – handed him an old-looking fishing rod. The man said that he was given it as a child by his grandfather, but because of how worn-out it was, he never used it anymore. So, Red could keep it.

Red thanked him and went on fishing. He hooked nothing but Magikarp, and let them all go.

The S.S. Anne, being a luxury liner, was home to many pathways to leisure. There was a prominent swimming pool on the deck – often cleared out for Pokémon battles – a massage parlor, a gymnasium, a banquet hall, and several other portals to bliss. And if none of those appealed, the rooms themselves were made with care, holding comfortable beds, well-crafted artisan rugs and view of whatever scenery that the S.S. Anne happened to pass by.

Tesla, however, was content to lay by the pool and relax, oblivious to the world. Paradise~!

Red tied a red ribbon around Tesla's tail with his name on it to ensure that other trainers didn't try to catch him. He did similar things with the rest of his team, who attempted to relax like the Pikachu.

This came easier to some than to others.

Kikka, Red's Pidgeotto, grew bored of this resting within an hour and started picking fights with other Bird Pokémon. Kora, not used to the sheer number of people, hung around Red and Tesla – but still managed to relax. Honey flew off, attracted to the smell of flowers. She was joined by Ao, Red's Mankey, and K2. As it turned out, there was also a small flower-bed on the boat. Ao wandered the boat, joined by K2. They also picked fights with other wandering Pokémon.

Seeing that half of his party was more interested in battling than relaxing, Red rounded them up and sought out some trainers to battle. Kora and Honey joined them after a while. Red focused on training K2, and getting him ready to take on a tough Electric-type gym.

At one point, Red was passing by the Captain's room, and decided to peek in. However, it seemed that someone familiar had gotten there first, and stepped out as soon as he appeared.

"Oi! Red! Fancy seeing you here!" Blue walked over to Red, followed by his Eevee. "So, how'd you manage to get on here? They don't hand these tickets out to just anyone, you know!"

"Bill gave me his."

Blue's Eevee, not seeing that fat mouse, mewed at Red for attention, and received a pat on the head. He then went back to Blue's side. Blue picked him up.

"Bill, eh? I guess you mean _the_ Bill, right? I guess if you had to visit him, you must be searching for all kinds of strong Pokémon, right? That's what I'm doing! I've already caught 40 different types!"

Red decided not to mention that, including those Magikarp, he had only caught ten different kinds of Pokémon.

"They're all around, in all sorts of grassy areas. You should go look for some if you don't have that many. Of course, you won't catch up to me! So~," and at this Blue leaned in, "how many badges do you have so far? I have four already!"

"…Two."

Blue burst out laughing, joined by his Eevee's barking. Red flushed, embarrassed. If he hadn't gotten lost in the Viridian Forest earlier…! But there was nothing he could do about that now.

"I knew you were slow, but this is too much! I bet I could take you down in a snap! Come on, let's battle! Or are you scaaaa~red?"

An annoyed Red accepted the challenge. "Fine! Let's go!"

Blue raised an eyebrow. Red wasn't usually so eager to fight him. He smiled. Progress!

"Hey, where's your Pikachu? Did you dump him back at the lab?"

"_Tesla_ is relaxing by the pool. He earned a break after beating the Cerulean Gym _by himself_. Not that it matters, as I won't need his help to beat _you_." And even if he did lose – not that he doubted himself – this would be valuable experience for taking on even stronger trainers. Red had no doubt that Blue had four badges, but there were still stronger opponents ahead.

"Ooh, you're awfully feisty today~!" And he was talking more!

_Can't imagine why…_ thought Red. He sent out Kikka while Blue sent out a Spearow.

"Ha! Spearow are stronger than Pidgeotto! I'll end this in a snap! Spearow, Peck!"

The Spearow flew at Kikka, jabbing at the Pidgeotto with his beak.

"Strength isn't everything. Kikka, Whirlwind!"

Kikka, after dodging another peck, flapped his wings with gusto, generating a small tornado. The Spearow tried to evade it, but was sucked in and dragged down the hallway, far from the battle. Kikka cawed at Blue, asking for more.

Blue scowled. Spearow could make its way back eventually, but that move was so annoying! He sent out a Kadabra, and had it Disable that move. Red had no Pokémon to directly counter a Psi Pokémon yet, but Kikka's attacking power should be a good enough substitute. Red called for Kikka to use Quick Attack, while Blue called for some Confusion attacks. Kikka's speed prevailed over the Kadabra's psychic power, and he won while taking minimal damage.

"Not bad!" Blue sent out a Rattata, wanting to get it out of the way as he had only recently caught it. Sure enough, Kikka swiftly took it out with another Quick Attack.

_Really, Blue? You got four badges with _this_ team?_ thought Red. Maybe Red was overthinking things and should've gotten that third badge before getting on the S.S. Anne. Well, too late now! What was a few more days when he was already this far behind in badge count, and yet a better battler?

_Red's gotten a bit better…_ thought Blue. _But I can still take him out! He can't be that much better than he was in Pallet. If he was, he'd have more badges and Pokémon._ Blue sent out a Sandshrew. "Go! Use Slash!"

The shrew lunged at Kikka and slashed at him. Kikka avoided some of them, but got caught by one and took some heavy damage to his left wing. In retaliation, he sent out a strong Gust at the Sandshrew, and it took some damage.

"Kikka, come back!" Kikka cawed at Red, wanting to keep going. Red shook his head, and Kikka grudgingly followed him. Red sent out K2 to finish the job.

"~geodude!~" I'll finish this! The Geodude roared at the Sandshrew.

"~pidgeotto!~" You'd better!

"~geodude!~" Take this! K2 slammed his fists on the floor, unleashing a high-powered Magnitude attack. The Sandshrew, unable to keep its balance, ran into the walls and fell over. Blue recalled it.

"~eevee~" Looks like it's my turn. Blue's Eevee hopped out of his hands, and prepared himself for a fight. This wasn't that fat rat, so it should be an easy match.

"Eevee, Sand-attack!"

Eevee kicked up a cloud of dust at K2. Not knowing where an attack might come from, he used Defense Curl under orders from Red. The Eevee Growled at K2, lowering his attack power slightly, but the attack clued him into where the foxlike Pokémon was. He lunged forward, using himself as a rock for Rock Tomb, and missed. The Eevee tackled him, and he tried it again.

That time, he succeeded.

"~vee! vee!~" Get off! You're heavy!

K2 simply roared, his body squishing the Eevee's. Blue, sensing imminent defeat, recalled his Pokémon. At about that time, the Spearow finally reappeared, only for K2 to use the same tactic. Blue recalled the soundly defeated Tiny Bird Pokémon.

Blue was confused as to how Red – who only had half of his badges – could beat him so quickly. But he decided not to show it, and to just play it off as luck. "Ha! Lucky shot! Here's your prize money. Also, take this. You care more about random people than I do, so you might find it useful." Blue handed some money and a device called a Fame Checker over to Red, who took them gracefully.

He felt that Blue didn't learn anything from this defeat. Oh well. That would be Blue's loss.

"What were you doing down here anyway?" asked Red, changing the topic.

"The captain's supposedly a Cut master, but he's just a seasick old man! Cut's pretty useful, though. You ought to teach one of your Pokémon how to use it. Anyway, I got better things to do than hang out here. Smell you later!" With that, Blue dashed off. Red hoped that he was going to let his party rest.

Red knocked on the captain's door.

"Urghhh… Come in… Ugh…"

He entered, seeing one sailor rubbing the back of another. The sailor whose back was being rubbed held a trashcan in in his lap, and periodically stuck his face in it while making retching noises. The standing sailor turned to Red.

"Howdy! Unfortunately, the Captain's a little sick, so he can't see you right now. If you wanted to teach a Pokémon how to cut down small trees, there's a bag of Cut HMs over there." The man pointed to them, and the captain weakly joined him. Red took one Hidden Machine #1 out of the bag.

Red thanked them, and asked if there was anything he could do to help the captain.

This time, the captain spoke up. "I'll be fine – after a nice – back rub."

"Good thing I was here, otherwise you'd be stuck doing this," added the other sailor. "I hope you're having a pleasant cruise! Later, kid."

Red left the two of them, and went back to his room.

The S.S. Anne eventually swung back around to Vermilion. Red and Blue both disembarked with their full parties fully healed, but at different times. Blue didn't want Red to see him yet.

Red's first destination was the Gym, which happened to be blocked off by a fence and a small, Cut-able tree. He sent out Kora to Cut it down, and went into the Vermilion City Gym. Standing just inside the Gym's entrance was the guy who gave him advice in Cerulean.

"Yo! Red! Listen up! Lt. Surge has a nickname – the Lightning American! He's an expert with Electric-types! You'll need a Ground-type by your side if you don't want to get shocked! He's a cautious guy, so you'll need to unlock an electric gate to reach him! Got it?"

Red nodded. At the back of the gym, two lightning arcs were blocking him off from battling Lt. Surge, who appeared to be meditating. Three other trainers were standing around an area littered with trash cans. Red looked in the one closest to him and saw a switch. He pressed it, and nothing happened. The right switch must be in a different one!

After scouring a few of the trash cans, he found a switch that turned off one of the arcs. The can next to it held the switch that turned off the other arc. At the sudden lack of noise, Lt. Surge opened his eyes and stood up.

_What does this kid think he's doing here?_ he thought. _They let random kids take on Gyms now? I thought Oak's grandson was just an exception. Well, if he wants a challenge, I'll give him one!_

"What's this? Another puny kid wants to take me on? You won't make it too far with your puny power! Not unless you can get past me and my Electric-types!"

The trainer standing by the arc generators, dressed like a gentleman, stepped forward. "Allow me, sir." He revealed a Poke Ball from his breast pocket.

"At ease, Tucker." Lt. Surge sent out his Raichu. Red sent out K2. The two pokémon growled at each other and prepared for a battle.

"A Ground-type, huh? Well, I have measures for that! Rai, Double Team!"

Illusionary Raichu copies appeared from the Raichu's shadow. K2 punched the ground, but all the Raichu jumped, evading the attack. Several of them lunged at K2 before he could react by using Quick Attack. It didn't do much damage, but as K2 Struggled to swing back at them, none of his hits landed.

"K2, try using Dig!"

The Geodude roared and started digging at the Gym's floor. Several Raichu used Quick Attack on him while he was digging, but they couldn't do enough damage to stop him. K2 disappeared under the Gym's floor, and all the Raichu stopped in place, wondering where he would appear.

There was a slight rumbling under one of the Raichu, which drew its attention. A rocky fist emerged from the ground and caught it in the stomach. Taking massive damage from that hit, it fell over unconscious. All the other Raichu vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Whoa! That's a shocker! Even I couldn't tell which one was the real one!" Lt. Surge recalled his Raichu. "It takes some real guts to bet your victory on a single punch! You're the real deal!" The Lt. gave Red and his pokémon a thumbs-up. Red gave him a thumbs-up back, and so did K2.

Lt. Surge tossed the Thunder Badge over to Red, who caught it easily. It reminded Red of a sunflower, except that the badge's center was orange. He showed it to K2, who roared proudly.

Lt. Surge continued. "That's the Thunder Badge! The electromagnetic power in it boosts your Pokémon's speed. Also, take this – it's the TM for Shock Wave. Teach it to an electric-type!" Surge handed a yellow CD over to Red.

"Thanks!" Red put the TM away. "Do you know what's going on in Saffron? It's blocked off."

"Your guess is as good as mine, kid. They wanted me to put an electric barrier up, but I thought that was a bit excessive. I haven't gotten any response back from them in a while. They should be fine with both Sabrina and Kiyo there, but to be safe someone should investigate. Kid, I have to protect Vermilion, so would you mind checking this out for me?"

Red didn't mind and accepted the task. K2 started hopping around, eager to get going.

"OK! I'll see if I can get you any assistance from here. You might want to ask Erika, Celadon's Gym leader for help. Go underground to reach Celadon. Now, move out!"

"Yes, sir!" Red recalled K2 and left the gym. The guy from Cerulean followed him out, handed him a Hidden machine containing Fly, and said he'd meet Red in Celadon. The two of them split up, Red heading for the Pokémon Center.


	7. Beautiful Rainbow

After quickly teaching Kikka how to Fly, Red flew directly to Celadon City, wondering why Surge wanted him to go underground to reach it. Flying was much faster! Maybe it was for the experience, but he could go back and tackle the routes around Lavender Town later.

They made an easy touchdown in front of the Pokémon Center, the closest familiar landmark. He could see all different kinds of people and Pokémon wandering the streets.

Celadon is a city surrounded by forests and home to rainbows after rainstorms. Homes and apartment complexes were scattered all around, with a few hotels to match. At the city's center was one of its main draws, the Game Corner – where many tested their luck, but few managed to walk away with one of their rare prizes. The Celadon branch of the Pokémon Trainer's Department Stores was situated in Celadon's northwest corner, and stood out even among the tall condo buildings. Celadon also held a world famous restaurant and hotel.

And it also had a Gym, which Red ran towards. A small tree was in the way again – Kora cut it down. (Where do these trees keep coming from anyway?) The Celadon Gym was hidden in the southwest corner, blocked off by houses and trees. Red was expecting to see the Gym guy already there to meet him, but there was just some old man instead, looking disappointed and sitting on a bench.

"Hey, kid! You here to challenge the Gym?" asked the old guy.

Red nodded.

The old man sighed. "Well, the Gym's closed. If you don't believe me, go ahead and look yourself."

Red tried the front door, but it was locked. There were a few windows low enough to peek through, but he couldn't see anyone inside the Gym – just the plants they maintained there, seeing as this Gym doubled as a greenhouse.

"This Gym had such wonderful ladies, too…" The old man sighed again, this time wistfully.

"Do you know where the Gym leader is? I need to see her!" The last time this happened, Team Rocket was involved. He could only hope that wouldn't be the case here. Then again, she would be able to handle just a few grunts, given that Erika's Gym Challenge team would be stronger than Brock's.

The old man shrugged. "Go ask around. She lives here somewhere."

Red left the old man alone to go find Erika. Celadon was a big city, but she shouldn't be _that_ hard to find.

* * *

><p>As Red traversed across the Rainbow-colored city, he learned of its gym and gym leader. She was named after flowers, and she cared for them, along with those trainers who worked in her gym. The flower-naming trend was something that was carried down through her family for generations, going back to at least the time when the country of Ransei was said to have existed. Her manner was reserved and serene, and she was often found resting in one of her many gardens. In her spare time, she taught flower arrangement to any who wished to learn and doubled as a florist.<p>

These were all certainly interesting facts, and Red was not sorry to have learned them, but they had nothing to do with where she currently was. On that matter, people had considerably less to say. Some didn't even know she had vanished. Was someone covering this up? If so, it was probably Team Rocket.

Red scowled. Maybe someone in the Game Corner might know something…

The Celadon Game Corner was a two-building complex. On the left, there was a large building painted in solid bold colors, with flashing neon signs indicating that it was the 'GAME CORNER' and that you were 'WELCOME' to come in and have some 'FUN'. What kind of 'FUN' it meant, Red didn't know. He'd heard stories of people entering a Game Corner with a fortune and walking out with nothing, but none of the opposite. _I guess the fun is for whoever runs this place… wonder who that could be?_

The building on the right was a short and plain stand, claiming to be the place to claim your 'PRIZES'. Three women were working there, chatting idly. They didn't seem to expect anyone to come by and request anything from them. They turned with interest to Red as he approached them, wondering who let the kid into the casino and if he was even old enough to gamble, but what he wanted was information. And they only knew as much as he knew.

He sighed.

"Hey, one of the workers inside might know something!" said one of the women.

"You think so?" said the second

"It's worth a shot! Go ahead and go in, kid!" countered the third.

Red was going to do that even without their permission. He entered the Game Corner and was immediately assaulted by the thick stench of smoke and alcohol and flashing lights from every angle. It gave him a mild headache, but he had to deal with it. What were so many people doing in here anyway? It's the middle of the day!

As he scoured the slots and table for information, he eventually ran into a familiar face: the Blue Shirt Man from Cerulean City. He was glaring at the slot machine in front of him, as if he could stare it down into submission. It remained impassive and oblivious, not displaying any lucky sevens.

"Man, I just have no luck with these things…" As he stood up, ready to leave, significantly poorer than when he entered, he noticed Red staring at him intently. "Oh, it's the Champ in the making! Red! I'd give you some advice for taking on Erika, but it looks like she's up and vanished. Unless you've found her already…"

"No, I… Wait, how'd you know I'd be looking for her?" asked Red, about ready to exit the Game Corner and go to the condos to start asking them for help. He'd had about enough of this place – there was too much random yelling, the smell was starting to make him nauseous, and the background music was obnoxious.

"Are you kidding? You're the Champ in the making! You take on Team Rocket without flinching, even though you're a kid! You even made the news!"

Red blinked. "I did?"

The Blue Shirt Man nodded. "Yup! And I know you can go further than that!" He leaned in and lowered his voice to a whisper, which Red could barely make out over the ambient noise and background music. "I got the feeling that the Rockets are involved. Kidnapping for ransom is right up their alley. I even hear that they've got connections to this Game Corner. Keep your eyes out for anything suspicious around here, got it Red? She might be closer than we think."

He leaned back out, and Red could see his grim expression, one he had not seen before. It reminded him of someone, but he couldn't recall who. In any case, it faded back into his normal sunny mood in short order. "Anyway, this Game Corner trades rare Pokémon for coins. I hear they even have Dratini here!"

Red whistled. Dratini? They were so rare that the only known Kantoan population lived in the Safari Zone. People regularly made claims about finding others, but they could never be verified. And those Dratini were also protected and not allowed to leave the Safari Zone… unless you took on the Safari Zone Game and caught one with one of their specialty Poké Balls. Ones with a distinctive look and color. Ones that were not at the prize stand.

Red nodded. He got the hint.

The Blue Shirt Man smiled. "Yep, all sorts of cool and rare stuff. I'm just no good at these slots though, so I'm gonna call it a day… Later, Champ in the making!" He walked off, waving back at Red.

Red waved back, recalculating his plan. He needed to come back and investigate this place thoroughly… but that could wait for a little while. There were a few more areas of the city he needed to hit, and he also needed to feed himself and his party.

He fled the Game Corner.

Unseen by him was a person hiding in the shadows and observing their entire conservation. It was… interesting. And useful. That person began searching for what Red was looking for, and for their own reasons.

* * *

><p>Red's last stop for information was the Celadon Condominiums. People claimed that Erika lived there, and that the old lady who managed the place should be able to help him out. The building itself had no distinctive features, and he could only recognize it from its size and the sign strategically placed in front of it. He entered the building, and was greeted by frantic, friendly barking. An Eevee dashed at him eagerly, stopped, stared at him in apparent confusion, looked around, and whined with longing, ears drooped.<p>

"Um… sorry?" He reached down to pat it on the head. He stroked the Eevee's fur gently, and it leaned into his touch. It purred.

"I see you've met Eevee." Red looked up to the speaker: an old woman wearing a simple green dress. "We don't have any rooms up for rent if that's what you're looking for. A bunch of young men claimed the last few. Said they were working on a video game or something." She paused and leaned in, looking at him more carefully. "Are you even old enough to rent a room?"

Red shook his head. He stood up, and the Eevee climbed onto his shoulder. "I'm a trainer on the Gym Challenge and I'm looking for Erika, ma'am. I heard that she lives here. Do you know where she might be?"

Between Red saying 'Erika' and 'ma'am,' the Eevee barked in surprise and started gnawing softly on Red's ear, trying to get his attention.

He glanced at the Eevee. "…Is this her Eevee?"

"Actually, no. She's a gift from my grandson; I got her a few years ago. She knows the scents of everyone who lives here. She could probably lead you to Erika if you find any clues. Unfortunately I don't know where she went, and I have to take care of these apartments…"

The old lady furrowed her brow in thought. "Hmm. You say you're a trainer? Well, it looks like Eevee wants to go with you, so do you mind taking her with you? Her Poké Ball is in the back; I'll go get it for you. You take good care of each other now!" Both Red and the Eevee nodded, and the old lady walked off.

"Where do you think Erika is?" he asked the Eevee, who he now needed to nickname. Maybe 'Sakura' or something flower-based would work.

"~veeveevee! veevee!~" The freshest part of her scent ends in front of the Game Corner! She has to be there! This Eevee was determined to save the nice flower-and-grass-smelling-lady who was always nice to her, even though she wasn't a Grass-type.

"The G-!?" Red shushed himself, not knowing who might overhear him. "The Game Corner. So there is something hidden in there. Team Rocket, whatever you're up to with this, I won't let you get away with it." A plan was forming in his mind. First, he needed to investigate for any secret passageways, chambers, areas, vaults and so on. Second, get as many policemen as possible to raid the place and keep out the civilians. Third, beat up the Rocket grunts. Finally, save Erika!

The Eevee started growling at the mention of Team Rocket. Not because she knew about Team Rocket, but because her new friend didn't like them. "~eevee! veeveevee!~" I'll help you! I don't know what I can do, but I want to help!

Red nodded. "Thanks." He technically couldn't have more than six Pokémon with him at a time, but he wondered if anyone would care when he was going against Team Rocket. He pulled his PokéDex out of his pocket – the Eevee eyed it curiously, wondering what the strange red device was – and he scanned his new Eevee. "Level 25 and knows Helping Hand, Sand-Attack, Growl and Quick Attack. Oh, my name is Red by the way."

The Eevee barked in agreement and acknowledgement. But how did this guy know her moves? Was he a mind reader? And what was a 'level'? Before she could ask those questions, the old lady returned, shaking her head.

"My, what are we coming to these days…" She handed a standard red Poké Ball over to Red. He stowed it away. "I've forgotten how to reset the ownership on it, but I can do that later. There's some commotion going on at the Game Corner and the police are all over there. They said something about Team Rocket and an 'investigation'. If you want help from the police, they're out already. Good luck! I hope you find that poor girl! I can't imagine what her and her parents are going through."

_I can,_ thought Red. So I have to help them. He thanked the old lady and rushed out of the Celadon Condominiums. The Eevee jumped from his shoulder and led him to the Game Corner. True enough, a horde of police officers were there, leading some very confused and annoyed patrons out of the building. The staff looked around nervously as they were questioned, and several police Growlithe were sniffing around.

The Eevee and a nearby Growlithe spotted each other and barked at each other cordially. The Growlthe's handler turned to Red. "What do you want? This isn't a place for kids!" He walked over to Red, intending to tell him off. Once he came close, he realized who Red was. "You…! You're that kid who helped out the Cerulean Police with Team Rocket!" At this, several police officers turned to them curiously, as well as some of the staff and patrons.

Red had already gathered a reputation as a kid with a 'sixth sense' for rooting out Rocket activity – first in Pewter, and then in Cerulean. If he was here, then maybe the anonymous tip they'd been given had some truth to it. But for Team Rocket to have infiltrated the Game Corner! It was never the most reputable place, but there was no telling what depths it may have sunk to under the rule of the Rockets.

"It's good that you're here!" Very good! He must not be the only one curious about the Game Corner. "I think that Erika's disappearance has something to do with the Game Corner!" His Eevee barked in agreement. Cue cries of surprise and dismay.

"That's impossible!" claimed the man who had the misfortune to be the general manager for the Game Corner. "There's nowhere to hide such a prominent person in the Game Corner!" _In fact there is – but we need to maintain plausible deniability. Those Rockets said that this would never come back to bite us! Damn them! This could end all of our careers! And we'll be the ones taking the fall, because they can escape out the back end into the forest and get away scot-free!_

Shortly after he said that, an officer dashed out of the building. "Guys! We found something! It's this huge underground hideout! And Rocket grunts are everywhere in there!"

Various reactions followed this news.

"What." This was from the officers. This went way beyond what they were expecting.

"What!?" The patrons and most of the staff.

"No!" Some of the higher-level staff. Their lives were now ruined.

"I knew it! / ~eevee!~" Red and the Eevee shouted as one. Now, they just needed to find Erika.

"We've already started our assault, but we need back-up!" The officer then rushed back in with his Growlithe to provide some of said back-up. Many more officers followed him; Red and Eevee joined them. They went down a secret staircase at the back of the Game Corner, now revealed for the world to see.

* * *

><p>The Rocket Hideout could best be described as a maze. It sprawled down four floors over an area much larger than the Game Corner above it, leading many to wonder how Team Rocket managed to sneak it into the city. Or, for that matter, how no one realized that hundreds of Rocket operatives were operating underneath the city – because the police were rounding up dozens of Rocket grunts, and just when it seemed like they were done, they found even more. This didn't even take into account the grunts that they might have missed, and were escaping through some secret passageway or two. (In fact, there were six secret exits.)<p>

One grunt had yet to escape. She and a few others were heading for a passageway that the police had already found, so they scattered to find another. It was easier to flee flying solo than in a big, easily spot-able group. It would be even easier if she could find a bathroom and change out of the grunt uniform into her normal outfit, but there weren't any on Base Floor 2. She could flee either up or down, but she didn't know which one was closer.

She looked down at the plain duffel bag some grunt had tossed to her. In it was a device they had recently stolen – a prototype Silph Scope. It could detect Ghost-types, even when they were invisible, and it was rumored that it could detect _actual_ ghosts too! _Of course,_ she thought, _actual ghosts don't exist, but they don't need to be real. The perception, the image surrounding this device, is what matters. That's how Silph Co. got funding to finish development._ Naturally, part of that funding was secretly from them. So, naturally, they wanted a few for themselves.

It was only fair.

She heard footsteps nearby, with barking. She dashed for the nearest stairs. They might hear her running, but they still had to catch her!

Infiltrating this base was difficult, and not only because of its sheer size. There was also the manner of the elevators, which only worked for those with Lift Keys, of which there were always too few. The spinning tiles, a Rocket invention, also disoriented anybody who couldn't figure out how they worked or how to get around them. And they were arranged in a maze-like pattern for which there was only one entrance and one exit, because doing it any other way wasn't fun, now was it?

The tricks behind these ruses were plain to her, but they might stump the police for some time, having never seen them before. There was one on this floor, and the one below her.

It seemed that she would have to go up. There were secret stairs somewhere nearby.

Rounding a corner, she collided full-force with someone and knocked them over, dropping the duffel bag. Barking resounded nearby. There was no time for this! She quickly recovered, and dashed away. The bag could be left to its fate. It was not what she sought.

Red, the trainer she knocked over, slowly rose from the blow. He rubbed the back of his head. The Eevee ran back to him, barking with concern. He was alright enough. He picked up the grunt's duffel bag, wondering what might be in it, and continued on his way. The police might be interested in it. But they still had to find Erika…

* * *

><p>The Rocket Siege on Saffron City had yet to relent even after a stalemate lasting several days, and the best efforts of Sabrina and Kiyo. It seemed that no matter how many Rocket grunts the Saffron City Gym and Fighting Dojo members defeated, they recovered in no time at all – mainly because they held the Pokémon Center.<p>

Their goal, as far as anyone could tell, was to take over the Silph Company HQ. Silph Company was known to make quality goods for pokémon trainers, but most of their workers didn't raise pokémon themselves. So it fell on the local trainers and police to help them out and keep Team Rocket out of their building.

Five days later, they were starting to get exhausted. Someone had managed to sneak a nurse and a healing machine out of the Pokémon Center for them, but the Rocket grunts still out numbered them. Sabrina wondered where all these grunts were coming from, not knowing that she would soon get her answer. She, along with Kiyo, the Saffron City Police Chief, and Silph's president, were in the president's boardroom on the 11th floor of the building. Communicating telepathically with her Venomoth, she was able to keep track of events on the ground and relay them to the group. They also left the president's flat-screen TV on the local news, which were also helping to defend the city. According to today's reporter, Team Rocket had begun their assault again.

"Oh dear… Why are they doing this?" asked the president.

"They're Team Rocket. They're a bunch of thugs. This is just what they do," replied the police chief. "We can keep you safe as long as we need to, don't worry."

"I'm more worried about those poor Pokémon… the Rockets are abusing them, and using our products to do it. There has to be something we can do about this…"

"Hmph! All we can do now is crush them! Get them out of our city!" added Kiyo, who would rather be out fighting with his disciples below. His Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, practicing their kata, paused briefly to agree with him. Sabrina also agreed, although she did not say so. However, the president was the most vital person working for Silph, so he had to have the best protection available.

"Oh!" Sabrina suddenly exclaimed. Venomoth had seen something important, and relayed it to her. The rest of the group turned to her, but turned back to the TV in short order. The reporter had been informed that the Rockets had begun retreating for unknown reasons, and that they would keep the viewers updated as they gather information. More importantly, a Rocket hideout was discovered and assaulted by the Celadon City police, and they were eagerly awaiting the full details of Team Rocket's defeat. In the meantime, they began to recap the bravery of those who rose to defend Saffron City.

"It is as she has said," spoke Sabrina, in her usual formal tone. "The Celadon police discovered a Team Rocket hideout in the facility known as the Celadon Game Corner. They are in the process of infiltrating it and detaining all Rocket agents they come across. Additionally, the boy known as Red has entered the Hideout, with the intention of rescuing Erika from Team Rocket. All in all, this looks to be a major blow to Team Rocket. However, we cannot yet say that we will see the last of them." Sabrina added that last sentence just before the president and police chief could start cheering for the end of Team Rocket. For she had seen another vision of the future, and another Team Rocket attack on this city.

"Hmph! But this is still good! I shall gather my disciples and we shall return to our training! Come, Hitmonchan! Hitmonlee! Hah!" Kiyo ran out of the room, followed by his two pokémon.

"I must depart as well. My Gym requires my presence. Sayonara." Sabrina teleported out of the room, off to collect her Venomoth.

"I suppose I ought to leave as well. Celadon might need our help. Will you be alright?" He left the question about the corresponding question about the company implied.

"I think so. Hopefully, Team Rocket will not try this again." He still had no idea what Team Rocket was actually after – there were so many valuable and secret projects they were working on! Maybe he should add in some private security, just in case…

On the ground, many Rocket grunts, including the leader behind their assault, ended the day in the Saffron City jail. Some managed to escape, heading to one of their many small and secret bases.

When Team Rocket's leader heard of what had happened in Celadon and Saffron, sometime later, he did not grow enraged, as the messenger suspected he might. Instead, he merely chuckled, as if the arrest of hundreds of his men was just a joke.

Perhaps it was, compared to his plans.

* * *

><p>Erika was not on Floor 1. Red and the Eevee went down.<p>

She was not on Floor 2. Red and the Eevee went down.

She was not on Floor 3. Red and the Eevee went down.

They were on Base Floor 4. The Eevee sniffed the air, pointed herself down a hallway, and barked twice. She ran down it. Red followed her.

* * *

><p>"Have all the computers been purged?"<p>

"Yes, Boss."

"And our files are shredded?"

"They were also set on fire, just in case."

"And our agents are escaping?"

"The police only found two of the secret escapes."

"Good. We can reclaim these Pokémon later. As for the girl…"

The two conversing Rocket members turned to the third person in the room – a girl in a kimono, with short black hair, tied by ropes, asleep. This girl is the Gym Leader of Celadon City, Erika. Rather than being scared of them, as most of their captives were, she maintained a serene calm and refused to give into their demands or tell them anything useful. So they dumped her down on the lowest floor until they could figure out how to make her talk.

The grunt turned to the man beside him. This man – their boss 'Giovanni' – wore a nice black suit, but kept his entire head obscured by a black helmet. It was to ensure that no one outside the organization could leak his true identity on accident. The grunt thought it looked tacky.

"They'll find her, right? We can just leave her here."

"Yes. This hideout is done for anyway. We captured her because she had connections to Sabrina and Koga, but it looks like we won't get to use them. There are other ways." This was merely the most direct. "Now, I must depart! Team Rocket cannot be defeated here."

"That's what you think!" interrupted an unknown voice. It was muffled, as if it was coming from beneath them. They looked around for the source, but couldn't find one.

"Who's th-"

The ground exploded in front of them. In surprise, they jumped back from a cloud of dirt and smoke. As the smoke dissipated, they could see a red-wearing boy's figure emerge, flanked by a Geodude and an Eevee. Both Pokémon were growling at them; the boy maintained a steady glare.

"What? It's just a kid! Beat it!" yelled the grunt.

"And what do you want?" asked 'Giovanni'. This was unexpected.

"I'm here to take back Erika!" declared Red. "And to shut you down! You won't escape!" _That guy in the suit must be important somehow… He might be their Boss or something. I have to stop him from fleeing! Erika looks safe, so I hope she doesn't mind waiting for a few more minutes!_

'Giovanni' pulled out three Poké Balls. He paused to look at them and put one away, reconsidering the idea of summoning an Onix in an underground area when they had three floors above them. He sent out a Rhyhorn and Kangaskhan. "We'll see about that."

He glanced briefly at a camera in the corner of the room, and noted that it was still running.

Good.

"Rhyhorn, Fury Attack! Kangaskhan, Mega Punch!"

The two Pokémon roared and charged at Red and his team. Red sent out Tesla, who quickly readied himself for a fight when he saw a rampaging rock rhino and bulky fighting kangaroo headed right for them. "Tesla, Thunderbolt on the Kangaskhan! K2, Dig under the Rhyhorn and strike it!"

K2 started digging into the floor. Tesla jumped at the Kangaskhan and blasted it with electricity at close range. The Kangaskhan roared angrily, and swung out at Tesla. It missed the first time, missed the second, but hit a third time, sending Tesla flying into a wall. It roared proudly at its victory, and started walking over to Tesla to punch him again.

Meanwhile, the Rhyhorn, its intended target having gone underground, decided to rush at Tesla instead. Tesla recovered from the Mega Punch just in time to see the two bulky Pokémon rushing him. He struggled out of his Pikachu-shaped indent and started running away in blind panic.

"Tesla, use Double Team!"

That was a good idea! The fake copies would throw them off. Tesla summoned illusionary copies from his shadow, and each went in a different direction. The bulky ones paused, confused. Which one should they attack? They looked at each other, unsure.

K2 chose that exact moment to emerge from below, striking the Rhyhorn with the super-effective Dig. He struck the Rhyhorn's jaw with a mighty uppercut, flipping him over. Shocked, the Kangaskhan backed away. But she could hear the growling of the many Pikachu behind it, and it turned to see sparks flying from the cheeks of each one. It turned back to the Geodude, who aggressively roared at her, and got into a fighting stance. Surrounded, she hesitated.

"What are you waiting for!? Attack!" yelled 'Giovanni' at the Kangaskhan. How were they supposed to escape if they couldn't beat this brat? He was blocking the way to the secret exits! The police were already controlling the exit to the Game Corner, so they couldn't just turn around and run.

"Surrender!" demanded Red. "You can't win!"

"Boss, we have to-"

"FREEZE!" the grunt was interrupted again, this time by the police, who were blocking them off from behind. A pack of police Growlithe growled at them menacingly. Blocked at both ends, they had nowhere to run.

"'…Well, it looks like this is the end of Team Rocket…'… is what you wanted to hear, right? Guess again!" 'Giovanni' pulled off his helmet and suit, revealing a grunt's uniform. "Ha! Joke's on you! The Boss isn't here!" He put up his hands, as did the grunt beside him. "We may have lost this base, but we're not finished yet!"

"Yeah! You have no idea what you're going up against! I'd advise you all to be very afraid!" added the other grunt as the police walked over to them, handcuffs out.

"Since you won, kid, I'll give you some advice: walk away while you still can! We have our eyes on you now!" yelled the fake 'Giovanni' as he was dragged away.

Red wondered what they meant by that as he recalled Tesla and K2. He saw that the Eevee was busy biting through the ropes tying up Erika. He moved over to help her, along with one of the policemen.

"Thanks for your help, kid!"

"No problem." Well, if Team Rocket came after him, he could deal with them. He decided to warn his mom about them, just in case they decided to be indirect and attack Pallet Town. And it seemed like he wouldn't be able to take them down all by himself either. Well, he could call on some people for help. And he knew just who to ask first…

Despite all the noise from the battle, Erika had not awoken. She didn't wake up until the Eevee started licking the Gym Leader's face.

"Oh! Geselle, it's you." She looked around and saw the officer and the young boy. "Did you rescue me?" she asked them.

"He did," said the policeman, pointing at Red. "We just helped." He went off to help his fellow officers escort the frightened Rhyhorn and Kangaskhan out of the hideout.

"I see." She bowed deeply to Red. "Thank you for your help. Please come by the Gym later, and I'll give you your reward." She paused, looking around.

"Umm… would you mind escorting me back to my Gym? I was asleep when they brought me here."

Red nodded, and they exited the Rocket ex-Hideout.

* * *

><p>It took several minutes for anyone to notice that the camera in the corner was still running. It was promptly shut off and confiscated, along with the duffel bag Red handed to them and the rest of Team Rocket's goods.<p>

* * *

><p>This Team Rocket hideout was determined to be a site of Pokémon and item smuggling.<p>

From the now-unusable secret exits, scattered across the vast underground base, rare Pokémon – mainly from the Safari Zone – could be secretly brought into Celadon and sold at the Game Corner. Scores of sedated and variously-drugged Pokémon of many species – the small Psi-using Abra, the moon fairy Clefairy, the twin Bug-types of the Safari Zone Scyther and Pinsir, and the rare mini-dragon Dratini – were discovered in Poké Balls, cages, and chambers filled with unknown liquid. Additionally, deactivated Porygon – a virtual Pokémon created by the Pokémon Lab – were discovered there, implying that the Rockets either stole them and brought them to Celadon all the way from Cinnabar Island or figured out a way around Silph's DRM. Both options were worrying.

There was little else that could be gleaned from the hideout. All the computers there had been formatted, and many of the hard drives had been smashed to pieces. The burnt files were completely unusable, and many of the shredded files were treated with a foul-smelling something that made them illegible. Still, they would try to learn what they could from the Rocket Hideout. Maybe they could figure out what the Rockets were planning, and stop it before it happened.

* * *

><p>"Oh! You are strong indeed. I must confer on you the Rainbow Badge."<p>

Kikka was chirping proudly and flying in a circle as he had single-handedly taken out all of Erika's Pokémon. Red congratulated him, and accepted the Rainbow Badge with pride. Now he had half of the badges he needed to challenge the Elite Four! If he hurried, he might still be able to catch up to Blue! But, he had to do something about Team Rocket.

"Thank you."

"Please take this with you as well." She handed him a green CD with the phrase 'TM19 – GIGA DRAIN' written on it. "This TM contains the move Giga Drain. Half the damage it inflicts will heal your Pokémon. Isn't it a wonderful move?"

Red didn't see what was so wonderful having Kikka's health sapped repeatedly – neither did the bird if his squawk of protest was any indication – but he could agree that it was useful move for a Grass-type to have.

"I wanted to ask for your help against Team Rocket, but I've heard that they fled Saffron by themselves." __Now I can go challenge Sabrina! I wonder why they left though…__

"Yes…" Erika yawned, slowly strolling around the grassy space used inside the Gym for battles. It was surrounded on all sides by brightly colored flowers, many of which were aromatic. The Eevee, Geselle, followed her, taking in all the scents. "…Oh! That means you will be challenging Sabrina next, yes?"

Red nodded.

"Sabrina is a good friend of mine… and a strong trainer. May I make a suggestion? Go to Lavender Town and befriend a Ghost-type. I would never collect one, but they are strong against the Psychic-type Pokémon that Sabrina uses." She laid herself down on the indoor meadow, yawning again. "…Oh, and please take good case of Geselle. She is happy around you, I think."

The Eevee mewed in agreement and walked over to Red. Red picked her up, and pulled out the Poké Ball that the old lady had given him before. He recalled Geselle, and then recalled Kikka. Geselle was taking over Honey's spot on the team, so he had already sent the Butterfree over to Oak's Lab.

A question suddenly appeared in his mind. It was inconsequential, he hoped, but his curiosity drove him to as it anyway.

"Hey, where did you find Geselle anyway?" He thought that you couldn't find wild Eevee in Kanto anymore, but maybe there was a small population nearby. Oak would want to know about it, if it existed.

"zzzzzz…" Erika was fast asleep. He wasn't going to get his answer anytime soon, and he had to get moving. Sunset would start soon, so he had to hurry if he wanted to get to Lavender Town before it became too dark to use the Routes. He left Erika sleeping in her gym, in the care of the Celadon City Gym trainers. Soon after, he left Celadon behind.


	8. Epitaph

Chapter 8 – Epitaph

Lavender is the color of noble beauty.

Lavender Town is a small village to the east of Saffron City. Much like Pewter City, it is surrounded by tall rocks, and there is a single massive mountain – Mt. Shion – to its north. A Rock Tunnel was bored through this mountain, and connects this village to Cerulean City by two winding routes. The sun's light causes the shadows to dance over the rocks, casting strange shapes and shadows visible from the village. This sight is an inspiration to artists and regarded as an omen from the otherworld.

Lavender is the color of noble respect.

Lavender Town has never been a highly populated town due to the strangeness of Mt. Shion, but those who were born there were raised to respect the dead. Legends were passed down speaking of how the spirits of dead Pokémon and people occasionally came down from the mountain on nights of lunar eclipses. Another legend spoke of a ghostly dragon that moved in the shadows and guarded cemeteries. And everyone there knew that if you disrespected a grave, whether it belong to a human or Pokémon, the wrath of that unseen one would befall you and you would be cursed until your dying day…

So they cared for the dead, building them a monolith in their honor. The Pokémon Tower. Since it was built, it became a haunt for the native Ghost-type Pokémon of Kanto – Gastly, Haunter and Gengar. No one is sure where they originated from – one legend claims that they emerged from a funeral fog – but they were welcomed as honored guests long ago. For the most part, they are harmless – but they do love to trick unsuspecting visitors. They are also known to terrorize those who cross them or defile the tombstones…

Lavender is the color of noble silence.

The Pokémon Tower is also home to a small population of Cubone and Marowak, which migrated there from the main population in the Rock Tunnel. No one is sure why these reptilian skull-wearing Pokémon originally moved into the Tower, but they were also welcomed with grace. These Pokémon tend to avoid each other outside of mating season, so it is rare to see more than one of them at once. Because of this perceived rarity, people in underground markets began to desire the skulls of these creatures.

You see, as with many of the natural parts surrounding Lavender Town, there are legends surrounding the Cubone and Marowak as well, the so-called 'Guardians of the Graves'. There are tales that try to solve the mystery of the skull helmets. Some say that the wear the skulls of their long dead ancestors to honor them. Some say the skulls are masks to hide their true face, which could scare someone to death. Some say that the skulls are magic and have protective properties, such as defending against disease or evil spells.

Red did not know those tales, which is why he found the sight of a few Rocket grunts by the Pokémon Tower confusing. What they possibly steal in there? Or maybe they were going to go so low as to deface graves for kicks. Either way, this merited some investigation! He waited for them to enter the Tower, and followed them in.

* * *

><p>Lavender is draped over a noble old man.<p>

* * *

><p>Every floor above the ground floor of the Pokémon Tower was crowded with the graves of deceased Pokémon, each tombstone paying tribute to the one buried underneath it. These upper floors were also permanently covered in a fine fog, which grew thick at the floor of each floor, obscuring the names on the low graves. No one was sure why the fog remained during all seasons, and everyone who lived in Lavender Town accepted it for what it was: inexplicable but benign.<p>

The fog was thickest on the seventh floor, for unknown reasons, and a cold wind would sometimes blow through the room, even when the windows where shut. This wind was blowing on the Team Rocket grunts who had taken control of this floor, using it as a temporary base while they planned their escape from the ghost-infested town. There were about ten of them in total, but only three of them still had Pokémon on them. One of those three was holding a sack that clattered lightly and heavily each time it was shaken by the cold wind.

"This place is starting to creep me out!" said that one.

"Starting to? I've been creeped out for a while!" replied another.

"Alright, guys, shut up!" said a third. Being a fellow grunt, he had no actual authority over them, but they agreed that someone should be leader for this effort and he volunteered for the spot. "We got a message from the Mt. Shion secret base! It told us that Celadon was lost."

Several of the grunts gasped and cried out – these were the ones who had not yet known. The rest kept silent.

"Yep! So we gotta take those skulls straight to Vermilion ourselves! It'll be tough with that Red kid running around and Lt. Surge on patrol there, but we can do it if we move with speed. But we need to keep an eye out for people like that old man" – at this pointed he pointed at said old man, who was tied up and glaring at them, like that would do anything – "so those of us with Pokémon will cover the front and rear."

The grunt with the bag of skulls passed it on to someone with no Pokémon. He needed both hands free.

"To keep the group small, we'll split up! Half of us will go right to the secret base; the rest will get rid of the skulls. Got it?"

He didn't wait for an answer. "Good! Questions?"

"Why are you doing this?"

The group of grunts turned to the speaker, the old man they tied up after he tried to stop them by himself. He was bald, with thick white eyebrows, and wore a yellow apron over a lavender shirt and worn brown pants.

His name is Mr. Fuji.

The lead grunt answered. "Because we get money out of it. Do you not know who we are? We're Team Rocket! All Pokémon will be used by us, whenever and however and wherever we want, and for any reason! Got it?"

He didn't wait for an answer, again. "Good! If you've got a problem with what we're doing, why don't you stop us? Oh wait, that's right! You're just a powerless old man who doesn't know his place. _You can't do a thing to stop us._" He immediately started laughing, but stopped in short order. This was no time to laugh!

"Don't worry, we're just gonna leave you here. I bet someone will come by eventually~! You might be dead from hunger before then, though! See you, loser!"

The lead grunt rallied his men, split them into two groups, and ordered the group going to Vermilion City to begin their march. But before that group could descend the stairs to the sixth floor, a combined burst of psychic power and wind forced them back into chamber. From the stairs emerged a Pidgeotto and an Alakazam, and behind them were two young boys, one of whom the grunts could recognize.

"You! The Red kid!" After Red's assist in the takedown of the hideout, there was call for his capture within the organization – double the money if you can snag his Pokémon with him.

"Looks like you're a big star now, Red! You should give them your autograph!" said Blue. "I hope you told your mom about this!" he added, snickering. The idea of Red being a big famous guy was funny enough, but with Team Rocket? Well, he guessed that that was what you got when you decided to take them down. That was something _he_ could get behind! Especially with what happened to his Raticate.

Red just wanted Blue to shut up. Blue was there to lay down flowers for a Raticate that the Rockets killed in front of him, but stayed when Red appeared and told him that Rocket grunts were in the Tower. He looked to be in a low mood, but steadily cheered up as they climbed the tower and re-connected. And he had no shortage of comments to make when he found out about Erika's gift.

Though he did still have that call to make…

Red coughed into his hand. "Anyway… I don't know what you're up to, but we're putting a stop to it!"

Blue chimed in, pointing at the Rocket grunts. "Yeah! With our powers combined, you can't beat us!"

In response, the Rocket grunts with Pokémon sent out all of their Pokémon, deciding not to take any chances. In total, there were four Zubat, a Golbat, a Rattata, a Raticate, a Koffing and a Drowzee. "ATTAAAACK!" yelled the three of them at the same time. The mini-horde of Pokémon variously flew, hovered and dashed at the kid duo.

The two of them stared blankly at the mini-horde, before scrambling to pull out more of their Pokémon. But before they could call out any more Pokémon, the cold wind intensified, roaring across the chamber, and the fog thickened to the point where Red and Blue, standing next to each other, could barely see each other. The mini-horde stopped, confused.

Large glowing red eyes materialized from the thick fog before the leader of the Rocket grunts.

He froze and became silent. So did the rest of the grunts, as sets of eyes appeared before them.

A wide grin emerged under the eyes, showing many large, sharp teeth.

"_Hee~eee~eey._"

And the screaming began.

* * *

><p>Soon enough, the fog dissipated to its normal state, and the wind faded away. Before Red and Blue, all ten of the Rocket grunts were on the floor, either unconscious or shaking and holding themselves. A few of the still-awake ones were muttering to themselves about teeth. What did teeth have to do with anything?<p>

Now that the Rocket grunts weren't blocking their line of sight, they could see the old man sitting in the back of the chamber, tied up. His bonds were being undone by a ghost Pokémon rising out of his shadow – a Gengar. The old man thanked the Ghost-type as he was being freed.

Above the Rocket grunts, a few Gastly and Haunter were floating and chuckling to themselves. Among them was the ghost of a Marowak, which was slowly fading away.

Red and Blue recalled their Pokémon, seeing that the battle had been won before it had even begun. Blue immediately started whining about how he wanted to be the one to beat up the Rocket grunts; Red sighed and listened to his friend. It was all the same to him as long as the grunts were defeated.

One of the Gastly hovered over to them. "_Excuse me. Thank you for distracting them for us._"

"No problem," said Red.

"Whoa! You can talk!?" asked Blue.

The Gastly shook its head. "_Incorrect. I am thinking at you with Ghost telepathy._"

"…Ghost telepathy?" That just sounded silly!

"Just go with it, Blue."

Red turned his focus to the Gastly. "Was this all planned?"

The Gastly nodded. "_Indeed. These humans have been recklessly slaughtering Cubone and Marowak for several days without our notice. We decided to show them some of the terror that they were giving out so freely. But we had no idea Mr. Fuji would come to stop them, nor that you would appear._"

At the same time, Red and Blue: "Mr. Fuji?"

"That would be me," said the old man, who was now standing and patting the Gengar on its head. The Shadow Pokémon was beaming proudly. "Are you two wandering trainers? I've never seen you around these parts before. I had no idea they let kids run around on adventures nowadays… Anyway, thanks for all your help. If you come by the Volunteer House some time, I'll give you a Poke Flute. You'll need it to wake up the sleeping Snorlax to the south."

Red and Blue decided not to mention that they didn't do anything. They thanked the old man for his gift; the old lavender man left them to return to caring for the orphaned Cubone. Most of the Ghost-types left as well – only the Gastly that originally approached Red and Blue remained.

Silence reigned for a few moments. And its rule was just as swiftly destroyed:

"So, Red… Wanna battle?"

* * *

><p>Tales are both born in Lavender Town, and migrate to it with news-bearers and travelers. For this reason, although Lavender Town was not officially participating in the Kanto Gym Challenge, one of the previous mayors decided to set up a Pokémon Center and Poke Mart for wandering trainers not long after the Kanto League was founded. Tales of strong trainers and their Pokémon floated in with the north wind, both from the trainers and from the Pokémon they occasionally released back into the wild.<p>

This was how the Gastly found out the 'Kanto League' and about recreational 'Pokémon battles' that these trained Pokémon would willingly partake in. The Gastly found these rituals strange, wondering why these Pokémon – creatures with the ability to bend the forces of nature to their will – would subjugate themselves to humans so easily and fight for the benefit of someone else. There must be some significant benefit to becoming the possession of a human. The Gastly wanted to know what it was.

So, that Gastly followed the two boys as they left the Pokémon Tower in order to have their battle. No, they weren't going to have their battle in a graveyard; that was just _asking_ for trouble. And while watching the battle, the Gastly realized something important, which might be an important reason revealing why the Pokémon went along with this.

The Gastly realized that there was something wonderful – almost majestic – about watching a giant atrocious water dragon be picked up by a small pig-monkey, swung around in a circle and thrown clear across a meadow and into a rock wall.

This was followed by said dragon forcefully wrenching its head from the rock and launching spheres of draconic fire at the monkey. Except that the monkey was no longer there, replaced by an electric rodent that promptly dumped a massive load of electricity into the dragon's body, knocking it out.

Sure, the trainer who was called 'Red' lost that match in the end, defeated by a superior showing of skill and power from the trainer known as 'Blue', but it seemed that the Pokémon involved in the battle derived at least as much enjoyment from the battle as the trainers. And afterwards, the Pokémon had all their wounds healed and were treated to free food. Now, it knew better than to assume this one observation was representative of the whole case. If there are good trainers, then there must also be bad trainers, and the Gastly had heard tales of and from Pokémon that had survived both cases.

Still, this situation was intriguing. The Gastly wished to know more.

And the best way to do that was to join one of these trainers.

"_Trainers,_" the Gastly began, "_after watching the spectacle you referred to as a 'battle', I wish to try my hand at it. Metaphorically speaking, that is. I wish to join one of you._"

The three of them were standing outside the Volunteer House. Red and Blue had received their Poke Flutes from Mr. Fuji, as he promised, and were about to go their separate ways. Blue was going to go south and take on the Fuchsia City Gym, while Red was going to go north and train in the area around Mt. Shion.

"I already caught a Gastly. Red, you take this one. You could use the help to beat Sabrina." Blue said that last sentence in a mocking tone of voice, but it was also true. Ghost-types and Dark-types held a type advantage over Psychic-type Pokémon, and Red had neither of those two. Red nodded, agreeing.

"Besides, I don't _need_ a Ghost-type anymore, seeing as how I've _already_ beaten Sabrina and gotten her _badge_, thanks to my _Umbreon_." Blue smirked at Red, smug in his victory. Said Umbreon joined his master by smirking at Tesla, enhancing their smugness.

Red and Tesla growled. There has to be a way that he can catch up! If only Team Rocket weren't in the way! And he hadn't gotten lost in the Viridian Forest… Well, there wasn't anything he could do about that now. He needed a plan; otherwise, Blue would definitely get eight badges before he did!

The Gastly watched all this with interest. This must be a 'rivalry', if that was the right word.

"Anyway, I gotta get going! I have to keep my lead, after all. Smell ya later, Red!" Blue recalled his Umbreon, pulled out his bike, and biked out of Lavender Town. Red gave him a farewell and waved him off.

Red turned to the Gastly, which was floating near his head. He rummaged through his bag for a Poke Ball, and pulled one out. "So, you ready?"

The Gastly nodded, and floated some distance away from Red so they could have a proper battle.

* * *

><p>Lavender is worn by a strong rivalry.<p>

Lavender is the color of both old and new bonds.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in Pallet Town, Professor Oak, all of his assistants, and other researchers were busy with their individual tasks, and scattered across the laboratory grounds. Oak himself was reviewing some grant applications, while most of the other Pokémon scientists were occupied with whatever experiment, observational study or caregiving task that they were doing. Red's mother was among them, out feeding the Pokémon that lived in one of the meadow plots. As she was feeding them, her mobile phone started buzzing in her pants pocket.<p>

She pulled it out. The call was coming from a Pokémon Center, so she turned on the video function. She answered the call, and was greeted by the ghastly visage of a Gastly, which was also shrieking at her shrilly.

"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeh…"

The Gastly stopped when it realized that she wasn't reacting to the attempted scare. They started at each other for a few moments.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…_Excuse me, ma'am._"

The Gastly moved aside, revealing her son.

"Hi, Mom!"

"Hello, son. I see you've caught a Gastly."

The Pokémon in the meadow, who quickly ran away when the shrieking began, returned to continue their meal. Some flying Pokémon, curious as to what this human was doing, started flying around Red's mother and looking at her phone.

"Yeah! I'm going to go train her in the Rock Tunnel so we can take on Sabrina!"

"Oh, so you have four badges already?"

Red nodded.

"I see… And you're doing fine? You haven't run into any trouble? Beside this whole matter with Team Rocket, I mean."

Red blinked. "You know about that, already?"

She nodded. "News travels fast. We also have an inside, remember?"

He did. His old friend, Green. Well, she went by 'Leaf' now, but she was still the same girl.

"I know that you've been fine so far, but I still want to be careful and keep yourself safe. Team Rocket has a way of… surprising people. They're dangerous."

"I know. Which is why I want to stop them."

She nearly dropped the phone. "What. You can't do that by yourself!"

"I know. I've already talked to Blue about this, and I'm going to ask the Fighting Dojo for help after I beat their leader. And besides that, I… well, I want the Elite Four to help. They shouldn't be doing anything else anyway… Can you ask Oak to get them to help?"

She thought about the Elite Four. The calculating Lorelei, master of Ice-types. The intense Bruno, master of Fighting-types. The fierce Agatha, master of Ghost-types. The mythical Lance, master of Dragon-types. They were the four of the strongest active trainers in Kanto and Johto, and were recognized with this status by the official Pokémon League. And they visited Oak's Lab regularly, as all of them except Lance left Pokémon in Prof. Oak's care. Lance left his Pokémon in the care of his clan, the Wataru of Blackthorn City, but he still came by because he was interested in Oak's research. Oak, a former champion, advised them in the absence of a true champion.

"I can try," she replied.

"Okay. Thanks, Mom. Has Dad come back yet?"

"No, your father is still with Elm in Johto. I don't know when he'll return."

"Oh… Well, tell him that I hope his research is going well."

She smiled. "I will. I can't believe it's only been a few weeks since you've left! It feels like much longer… Oh, and don't worry about the Pokémon you've been sending here; I've been taking care of them myself."

Red smiled. "Thanks, mom! Anyway, I need to start with my training, so we need to get going to Mt. Shion. I'll call you again later! Bye!"

She said goodbye to her son again, and he ended the call.

Lavender warmth was flowing through her.

* * *

><p>Team Rocket operated a plethora of secret bases all around the Kanto region. So the loss of the Celadon hideout, while a severe annoyance, was not enough to slow down any of the operations that truly mattered. One of these secret bases operated to the south of Pewter City, by the entrance to the Diglett's Tunnel. This base doubled as an underground laboratory, and was a site for possibly dangerous and extremely unethical research on Pokémon.<p>

Not that Dr. Sakaki cared much. Pokémon were there to be used, so he was using them. Well, he wasn't using any at the moment, not now that he had figured out how to run the theoretical calculations he needed on this old supercomputer, but he would be soon enough. A gift was arriving from Cinnabar Island.

A Porygon floated over to him. It relayed its message in digital monotone. "GIOVANNI, THERE ARE SEVERAL AGENTS AND RESEARCHERS AT SECRET ENTRANCE #2. GRANT ACCESS?"

'Giovanni' nodded. He was dressed in a sharp black suit and wore a black mask with the red R of Team Rocket emblazoned on it. This way, no work in Team Rocket could be traced to his civilian identity. All he had to do was evade capture, and appear at conferences and the like when appropriate. Maintaining his double life has so far been easy.

Yet, he looked forward to the day when he could discard it entirely. After ten years, his lack of true success was beginning to annoy him. But with the recent progress on Project M…

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. He turned to the door. Into the computational chamber entered a small group of Rocket grunts and researchers, all paid by profits obtained from both legal and underground enterprises. The Game Corner was always questionable, but such a great source of revenue for both them and Celadon that the authorities were willing to ignore it if nothing egregious went on. And the child had to ruin that for them.

Well, the child would have to pay for that.

He glanced at the group. The mask obscured his facial expression, so they did not see him raise an eyebrow at them. "Well, where is he? Is he behind me again?"

"_Actually, I'm above you._"

'Giovanni' looked up. Above him, a powerful Pokémon hovered, lifted up by its own Psychic power. It was a grey-skinned humanoid being, with a long purple tail. The being floated down and gingerly touched the floor with its three-toed feet.

"Ah, Mewtwo. It has been a long two years since we have last met.

"_Indeed, Father-Giovanni. Why have you called me from my training?_"

'Giovanni' smiled. "I have a gift for you. And there is something I need you to do in Saffron City."

Lavender power will overwhelm them all, guided by his hand.


	9. The Power to Believe II

Chapter 9 – The Power to Believe (II)

* * *

><p>The boy was leaving the tunnels under the Mt. Shion. Lavender Town was to his south, but it was not his goal. Merely a respite on the way to his true goal: Saffron City. There the Marsh Badge was awaiting him… but only if he could defeat its possessor, the esper Sabrina. The training under the mountains had allowed him to strengthen his team and come up with some strategies for dealing with Psychic-type Pokémon. He could only counter them directly with Rei, his recently acquired Ghost-type, so simply abusing weaknesses was out.<p>

_It's better to have a well-rounded team anyway_, thought Red as he waved to one of the hikers. _That way, a single weakness can't bring me down. Besides, who knows what could happen next? I should keep prepared for anything._

Red turned from the hiker, but the hiker turned back to him. "Hey, Red! You done in the Rock Tunnel?"

Red answered without turning around. "Yeah!" The hikers around Mt. Shion had sent up a shelter in the Rock Tunnel for transients like Red to use. However, he was the only one there while he was training his team.

"I have all my stuff!" Red gestured to his backpack, which appeared overfilled.

"Okay! If you're going to Saffron, be careful! Some bad stuff's going on over there! It's the Rockets again!" Having said this, the hiker continued on his way without adding any details.

Red immediately dashed into town, and raced into the Pokémon Center. The center had a small box TV, which was left on the news and was reporting on something unrelated. A few minutes passed before the reporters decided to turn their attention back to Saffron. Red noticed several other trainers in the center watching the news with him, perhaps with the same intent.

"And we are returning to our coverage of Team Rocket's unprecedented second attack on Saffron City… They still hold the majority of the city, including the Silph Co. tower and the Pokémon Center, under their control… Only the Gym and Fighting Dojo continue to resist the invasion… Anti-Rocket forces are being led by Saffron's chief of police, as well as the head of the Fighting Dojo… Sabrina, the city's gym leader, continues to be absent… Our correspondents on the ground have no immediate updates for us. In the time being, we ask that trainers around the Kanto-Johto region do what they can to support the citizens of Saffron City."

The news reporters continued to give their opinions on these events, in the absence of facts to report. Red frowned. Not this again. And he still won't be getting any help from the gym leaders. Hopefully Blue was already there. Leaf should also be indirectly in the fight.

Only he was sitting out. But not for long!

* * *

><p>Saffron City. Normally a haven for commerce and business.<p>

Today, it supports neither – for Team Rocket is in control of this fair city. They invaded the city under the cover of darkness, and swiftly took control of the Silph Co. tower. That was easy enough considering that some of their grunts were the private 'security' hired to guard the building. From there, the police were taken out and their Pokémon retrieved. Townsfolk that resisted were also defeated, and the Pokémon Center and Mart were placed under direct control.

By the time the Saffron Gym trainers started their counterattack, it was too late for the city. Sabrina had tried to stop them at the start, but she was by herself and defeated – for now, at least. So no one was bothering them except for some pests.

_Excellent,_ thought the black-masked man to himself. _This is going quite well. Let's not spoil it though, let's get what we need and get out._

And what were they after this time? Nothing less than everything Silph Co. could give them. 'Giovanni' had been keeping tabs on the company even before they became a fake security force. Silph Co. made Poke Balls, and was the leading force in improving them. They had even developed a Poke Ball that could catch any Pokémon without fail… or so the internal rumors went. Team Rocket had acquired a prototype of the device, but it was lost in the police raid along with the Silph Scope. The company also developed Technical Machines, and kept some unreleased moves, alternate versions and backup copies in house. More importantly, the technology to create new TMs was kept here in encrypted files, which he currently had a team cracking – along with some other secret files. They were also stealing equipment and Pokémon and moving them out of the city.

Saffron would never work as a Rocket base. Too much traffic combined with a mind-reading gym leader. Get in and get out.

He was in the president's office on the 11th floor, along with the president. As it turned out, the president knew little of use. That man was tied up and left here so that he wouldn't get in the way. All he could do was glare and try to make intimidating threats, and he was doing both.

Failing at both.

"You may have defeated Sabrina, but there are stronger trainers! And when they get here…!"

"They will still have to deal with us, just as she did. And we hold the Center."

The president shook his head as if that was irrelevant. In truth, healers make all the difference.

Their room had only two exits – a window, and a door that could only be opened by card key. There was a knock upon the door, and 'Giovanni' permitted the knocker to enter. At this point, the only possible possessors of a card key were Rocket members.

True to his thoughts, two Rocket grunts entered the room. They brought with them someone of importance, who had snuck into the building and submitted peacefully. They had no idea what to do with this man – middle-aged by the look of him, with black hair, black eyes and a lab coat – so he was brought to the leader. When in doubt, they followed the leader.

'Giovanni' blinked. This was surprising.

The Silph president gasped. "Dr. Sakaki! Oh no! Are you alright!?"

Dr. Sakaki smiled slightly at the president. "Relax. I have a plan."

* * *

><p>Saffron City has four gates of entry, each corresponding to a cardinal direction. Red approached the eastern gate from Route 8, which was completely devoid of Pokémon trainers. He supposed that they were all in Saffron somewhere. No one was stationed at the gate. Red passed thru it and entered the city.<p>

The city itself didn't look any different from before – no buildings were damaged in the invasion. However, one important thing was missing – the city's people. Red couldn't hear anyone's footsteps – any idle conversations – not even the quite hum of an automatic door opening. But the machines still ran, and he could hear a quiet hum over all. They were hidden.

As for the Rockets… They held the Silph Co. tower, at the city center, and the Pokémon Center on the other side of the city. The Gym and Dojo were to the north, at the city's edge. He had entered into a residential area – Rocket grunts could be hiding anywhere.

Red ran to the North.

* * *

><p>The Rocket grunts had subdued most of the trainers in the city – one way or another – and taken away their Pokémon. Those who refused and continued to resist were barricaded in the Fighting Dojo and Saffron Gym, and continued to keep watch to check on Rocket activity.<p>

Team Rocket responded to this with sheer numbers. 'Giovanni' had ordered them – 10 in total – to go attack those two buildings. Victory was not expected – the point was to just wear them down a little at a time. It was the obvious strategy when they controlled the healers. They were marching over from the west. When they were defeated, they were to return to the tower.

"Shouldn't the boss have more faith in us?" asked one grunt.

"What? Have you forgotten what we're up against? And we don't have good Pokémon!" replied another. Between them, they had simple Raticate, Golbat and Koffing. The boss ordered them not to use any of the stolen Pokémon, just in case they were defeated. The ones they had were not too hard to find, so they could be discarded during a retreat.

"It's all a part of the Boss's plan! Don't worry about it!"

The first grunt grunted in agreement. They were now coming up to the Dojo and Gym. A single person was sitting in front of the two buildings – an esper, if they guessed from the kid's dress. He appeared to be meditating. The kid opened one eye and glanced at them.

"Oh… hello. What do you want?"

"We're here for a fight!" yelled one of the grunts near the grunts. The rest of them yelled in agreement. "So bring out your fighters! We'll be taking you out!"

"…I'd rather not; thanks…Go bother someone else."

The grunts erupted in anger and surrounded the kid.

"Why you!"

"You little punk!"

"Then we'll make you!"

The grunts started pulling out their Poke Balls. They were going to teach this kid what it meant to mess with Team Rocket!

"Any last words, punk?" one of the grunts asked.

"…Turn around…" The kid put a small amount of compulsion behind those words. The rocket grunts all obeyed, and turned directly into a Haunter's sleep-inducing gaze. They realized what was happening just before they all fell asleep.

"Good job, Rei," said Red, standing some distance away. Rei screeched happily and floated over to Red. The two of them went up to the kid – who stood up to greet them – stepping over the downed Rocket grunts. "Thanks for your help!" said Red to the kid.

"_That was an excellent trick. Thank you for your assistance_," added Rei, who had evolved to a Haunter during their recent training.

"…You have been expected…Enter." The kid turned around and walked into the Fighting Dojo. Red and Rei followed the kid inside.

* * *

><p>The Fighting Dojo was a plain building both inside and out. The dojo itself was a single large room, with a slightly raised greenwood platform for matches. Several of the dojo's students were practicing their kata there in the absence of anything more productive to do, and they were being led by a man with a red bandanna around his right arm. Around them, several espers were meditating in a half-circle. They each opened a single eye in unison and turned their attention towards their fellow psychic and his guests as they entered. Red had to wonder how long it took them to learn how to move together like that.<p>

"Blue's friend has arrived…" announced the kid.

"OK!" yelled the man with the bandanna. He left his stance and returned to a normal standing position. His students followed him in time and bowed to him, before dismissing themselves. "Kid! My name is Kiyo. What is yours?"

"Red."

"Yet another strange name… You, Blue and the Leaf girl… Hmph! Did you bring anyone else with you?"

"No." _Was I supposed to? Couldn't Sabrina have stopped this by herself?_

"Unfortunate." Kiyo sighed. "Blue and Leaf are out rescuing civilians and I am here watching over the Dojo and Sabrina's Gym… Are you planning to attack the Center and Tower by yourself?"

"…" _That might be a bit much for me to handle myself. And what is the rest of the region doing?_ "Wait, what's Sabrina doing? Couldn't she help?"

"Hmph! She fell into a Rocket trap and was knocked into a coma! She should've expected that from them! They have some secret weapon waiting for us that can defeat espers. So, we have to stay here and guard them. But enough talk! You must go. Blue and Leaf are to the west."

Red got the message. He left immediately, Rei following behind.

"I do not like this. When will Sabrina awake?" asked Kiyo. He wanted to go, but had to watch his students.

"Soon," answered the espers as one. "She is recovering… and calculating…"

* * *

><p>Red caught up with Blue and Leaf in no time at all. Blue was chasing off some Rocket grunts with his Gyarados, and they had the misfortune to run towards Red. He ordered Rei to send them to straight to sleep. Blue pulled out some rope and tied up the sleeping grunts, while Leaf ran up to Red and gave him a big hug.<p>

"Hello to you too."

Leaf didn't look that much different that she did from when she left Pallet Town a few years ago. She was slightly taller than Red and had dark brown hair grown down to her mid-back. He didn't remember her wearing a hat, but now she wore a white hat with a red half-annulus.

"Nice hat," he added.

"Thanks!" She released him.

Blue recalled his Gyarados and noticed that Red was alone. "What, couldn't find anyone to follow you here? Well, _I_ got Koga to promise he'd help out! …Though I don't know where he is…"

"Koga? Wait, did you already…"

Blue interrupted him by showing him a Soul Badge. Red silently fumed. Leaf's attention was drawn away by something on the horizon. "Hey, is that smoke? And it's coming from the Pokémon Center!"

Red, glad for the change in topic, quickly averted his eyes to the south. Sure enough, black smoke was rising. The three of them dashed towards the Pokémon Center.

* * *

><p>"What's going on!?"<p>

"Where did that smoke come from!?"

"This odor…! Everyone, gas masks on!"

Team Rocket knew the value of smoke as a camouflage, a diversion, and a distraction. They used Koffing as tools for that reason, and carried gas masks so that the smoke strategy couldn't be used on them.

"Is everyone accounted for!?"

"One guy was too slow!"

"Drag him back into the Center!"

Two grunts groped around, grabbing at the fallen one's arms. It was difficult in the thick smoke.

RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!

"…what was th-?"

The earth shook. Rocks began falling from the sky. Lightning bolts flared within the smoke cloud. Panic took over the Rocket grunts, and they ran around in a blind panic, running into and over each other. Eventually, someone had the good sense to summon a Pokémon that could clear the air with a gust of wind, and promptly did so. Unfortunately for the Rockets, that person wasn't one of them.

"You! You're that kid!"

"We're surrounded!"

"This isn't good!"

It certainly wasn't. To one side were Red, Blue, Leaf and two Pidgeots (one of which had shining golden feathers). On the other side were an Onix and a Raichu, being commanded by Brock and Lt. Surge.

"Surprised to see you here, kid!" yelled Lt. Surge.

"Blue! Red! Are you two alright?" asked Brock.

The two of them nodded. Their Pidgeots shrieked furiously, eager to fight.

"Augh! The Red kid and two gym leaders!?"

"We'll just have to fight our way out!"

"Let's go!" yelled all the grunts guarding the Pokémon Center's front door – all twenty of them – as they each pulled out two Poke Balls and summoned a small Pokémon-horde. Before they could do anything, however, a large mass of purple goo fell onto all the Rocket Pokémon. They all cried out in surprise and pain.

"What th-"

From that mass of goo, another mass exploded at the grunts and knocked them over. It trapped them with its bulk and revealed itself to be alive – a Muk. It growled at the grunts, but they didn't respond. They had all passed out from the fumes and odor.

"A smokescreen and a Muk? Looks like the work of Koga!" Lt. Surge laughed heartily. "I guess he doesn't want to reveal himself. Well that's fine! KOGA! If you can hear me, watch over the Pokémon Center! We'll clear out the city!" He turned to Brock. "You ready, dude?"

Brock nodded. "Red, Blue, what are you going to do?"

Red answered for them both (and Leaf). They were going into the tower. Leaf knew her way around it because her father worked in there for Silph.

"Alright! You handle that! We'll take care of the rest of the grunts! Don't worry; we have back-up coming! Now LET'S MOVE OUT!"

They split up: Surge and Brock to the east; Red, Blue and Leaf to the north.

Shortly after they left, a Nurse Joy stepped out of the Pokémon Center. However, this Nurse had an oddly fierce look in her eye. Another Nurse Joy stepped out from around the corner, with a Weezing hovering around her. The Weezing went over to the first "Nurse Joy", who smirked.

"Thank you so much, Koga!" said the real Nurse Joy.

"Hm. Don't thank me yet. The battle is just beginning…" said Koga in disguise.

"But first, we must clean up the trash."

* * *

><p>Silph Corporation Tower. Eleven floors above ground. An unknown number of floors below ground. Only the first two floors could be breached without access to a card key, as the Color Trio quickly realized when they entered the building. Unfortunately, Leaf's father never gave her a card key, so they had to find another way to the top floor.<p>

"We'll take the warp tiles!" suggested Leaf. The warp tiles could be used by anyone with a password (which Leaf knew from her father) and were used to send employees and special guests directly from certain areas of the tower to another. Red had a hunch that whoever was leading this attack was on the top floor, observing the city through the windows. So they had to know about the Gym Leaders invading the city.

So why was the tower deserted…?

_Something's not right here_, he thought. Geselle, who had evolved into an Espeon, warned him of a strong presence on the top floor, and he warned his teammates.

Once they started using the warp tiles, they started encountering the Rocket grunts. They were handily defeated by Red and Blue.

Some of the Silph employees were trapped on the upper floors by Team Rocket. After the grunts holding them there were defeated, the employees made their way to the first floor lobby. The Color Trio kept going around and around the Silph tower.

On the 5th floor they found a card key. With it, they could access a secret room on the 3rd floor of the tower that several Rocket grunts were guarding. Inside that room was a single warp panel, which sent the trio to a room on the 7th floor. In that room was a single Rocket grunt, who fell over startled when the trio appeared.

"Ack! You're not in Team Rocket! In fact, you're that Red kid who shut us down in Celadon! I wasn't expecting you to make it this far! Now that you're here… My work here is done. I can go somewhere else."

The trio blinked.

"You're not gonna fight? That's boring!" complained Blue.

"…Are you really in Team Rocket?" asked Red. Now that he thought about it, this grunt seemed familiar for some reason – more so than a normal grunt should be. Had they met before?

The grunt winked. "I'm not telling~!" The grunt reached into her bag and pulled a Poke Ball with an L labeled on it. "Inside this Poke Ball is a special Pokémon that Team Rocket was after. Take it with you. You might find it useful in your travels." Instead of throwing it, the grunt walked over to Red and handed it to him. Having six Pokémon already, he gave it to Leaf for now. The grunt promptly took the warp tile down to the 3rd floor.

The Color Trio took the other warp tile up to the 11th floor.

* * *

><p>From the 11th floor, 'Giovanni', Dr. Sakaki and the Silph president could see the battle being waged outside for control of Saffron City. The three Gym Leaders already present had since been joined by Misty of Cerulean City and Erika of Celadon City. Behind the combined power of four gym leaders, the Rocket grunts buckled and began to scatter, fleeing the city for their secret bases.<p>

"Hm. It seems you've lost the city," pointed out Dr. Sakaki.

"I'm aware of that…! Bah! Useless grunts can't even put up a good fight! How did Koga even sneak into this city without us noticing? The same tactic we used to take down Sabrina was supposed to prevent people from doing that!" 'Giovanni' raged. This plan was coming apart around him. It was only a matter of time before whoever was taking down the grunts in the tower reached this floor. He could hope he could take them out and flee before the other Gym Leaders found him.

"Simple. Sabrina and I were diversions."

'Giovanni' stared at the Earth Doctor. "Y-you…! …Well played."

The Silph president started laughing, despite himself. "Hahahaha! See! You were bound to lose!"

'Giovanni' tried to maintain his composure. His secret tactic was still available. This was not over yet. As he was plotting, the grunt guarding the door yelled out.

"Ahh! You brats! How did you make it this far!? I'll take you…!?"

The grunt fell silent. There was muffled talking from behind the door, which now had the attention of the room's three human occupants. The door was opened, and the invaders revealed themselves to 'Giovanni' as… three kids he didn't know. Wait; was that one with the red hat the one who had interfered with them before? He was less impressive than expected.

"_Don't be so sure about that…"_ whispered a voice into his mind. It was getting ready to strike.

The girl child spoke first. "Pres., we're here to rescue you!"

She was followed by the hatless boy. "Dr. Sakaki!? How did you get stuck here?"

And then, the red-hat boy. "You?! But I thought you were arrested in Celadon?"

'Giovanni' smirked. "As if I could be captured so easily. Appearances are deceiving. I suppose you're wondering why we're here? Team Rocket aims to take control of Japan by using technology and Pokémon as weapons. Silph Corporation has the technological edge when it comes to gadgets meant for Pokémon capture. Thus I am here because we seek the ultimate Poke Ball. We will gladly steal any other secrets that interest us, however…" He interrupted his lecture to chuckle. That was enough to give them an idea, but too vague to be useful. "But! It seems I cannot continue my plans without dealing with a few pests first!" 'Giovanni' snapped his fingers.

The door shut behind the three kids. They turned around to face it, but were blasted further into the room by an unknown force.

"_Fighting children? At least Sabrina could struggle!_" emanated a voice through all of their heads. It boomed from above them, and they all turned to the source: a grey-skinned humanoid Pokémon with a bloodthirsty purple-eyed gaze. It had no ears, and two horns protruded from the left and right sides of its head. Its long purple tail floated lazily in the air along with this creature, occasionally twitching from side to side like a cat's. It had three fingers, three toes – and strangest of all, a tube stretching the base of its skull to the middle of its back.

Red and Blue pulled out their PokéDexes to try and identify the creature, thinking that it was a Pokémon. They received an error message. 'Giovanni' laughed, and pulled out four Poke Balls.

"Hahaha! Surprised, eh? Witness the power of Team Rocket's genetic technology! This Pokémon before you is our ultimate creation – Mewtwo!" He summoned his four Pokémon – a Kangaskhan, a Nidorino, a Rhyhorn and a Nidoqueen. They roared in anticipation of a battle and stood beside the creature named Mewtwo.

Red and Blue pulled out some of their Poke Balls, and Leaf dashed to the side to untie the president. Rather than wait for the challengers to summon their Pokémon however, Mewtwo used his psychic power to pick them up – which caused them to drop those Poke Balls, releasing an Espeon, Primeape, Alakazam and Umbreon – and flung the duo out of the window, shattering it in the process. The two boys screamed as they began falling.

"No! Red! Blue!" yelled Green.

'Giovanni' blinked. It wasn't like Mewtwo to strike so efficiently. The psychic liked to play with his victims, including Sabrina. "Mewtwo, that was…"

"_They're not going to die from that. Wait a moment,_" replied the clone. 'Giovanni' didn't see how that was possible, the psychic cat probably knew better than he did. He commanded his Pokémon to start attacking the ones Red and Blue summoned.

* * *

><p>Blue shut his eyes, not wanting to see the ground rise up to meet him. He could feel himself falling and falling… and suddenly stop. It felt as if he was being lifted by a similar force as the one that threw them out of the building…<p>

He opened his eyes and looked at Red. Red's eyes were glowing blue – the sign of psychic powers in action. Strangely, Red looked just as surprised as he did.

"Red! How are you doing this!?" _And can you teach me how to do it?_

"I don't know, and no I can't."

There was a pause.

"Huh. I guess I can read minds as well."

"Whoa! I'm friends with an esper! Wait 'til everyone back in Pallet hears about this!" Now that he had something other than terror to think about, Blue latched onto it. "Hey, how come you never told me about this earlier?"

"I can only use these powers when I'm in danger. My parents wanted me to live normally, so I never had any training." He was thankful for that, because if he had taken that training he would certainly not have started his journey at such a convenient time. He lifted himself and Blue back up to the 11th floor with his floor, where they were greeted by stunned gasps from all the people and a smirk from Mewtwo.

"_I knew you had some power within you._" Finally, he could have a proper fight with this child!

Blue's attention was drawn to the Pokémon battle below, which 'Giovanni' was winning despite his type disadvantage. Red, sensing Blue's intent, released his hold on Blue. Blue dashed over to the fight. "Red! I'll take care of your Pokémon. Handle the psychic!"

Red nodded… and was promptly shoved out of the window again. Mewtwo followed him out, laughing with terrible joy.

"Be careful, Red…" said Leaf to herself. She rushed over to help Blue.

* * *

><p>Red focused his force on himself, and lowered himself to a nearby roof. His pulled out some of his Poke Balls and began strategizing. <em>Hm… Geselle has my only direct type advantage. She and Ao are already fighting. Rei's no good against such a strong Psychic-type because she's part Poison-type. K2 is useless in the air. So that leaves me Tesla and Kikka.<em> He summoned the Pikachu and shiny Pidgeot.

"~pidgeot!~" I sense a strong opponent!

"~pikapika!~" Red! What's going on? Your eyes are glowing!

Before Red could answer, Mewtwo blasted them with psychic energy. Red was able to partially block it. The two Pokémon got the hint that they were in the middle of a battle.

"~pidgeot!~" Whoever you are, I'll fight you head on! Kikka flew at Mewtwo, and engaged the creature in aerial combat.

"Tesla! Get on my shoulder and hold on!" Red commanded. The Pikachu jumped onto Red, and Red lifted the two of them into the air, hovering on the opposite side from where Kikka was Struggling to hit Mewtwo. "Tesla, use Thunder Wave! Kikka, Wing Attack!"

Tesla fired a wave of electric energy at the creature, and Kikka flew directly at it, prepared to strike. Mewtwo smirked. He put up a Barrier to block Kikka and starting glowing green. The Thunder Wave struck Mewtwo harmlessly. Mewtwo then smacked Kikka away with his tail.

"A Safeguard! We can't paralyze him then… Tesla, use-!" Mewtwo interrupted Red's train of thought by suddenly teleporting in front of him. Tesla, on impulse, lunged at the creature with a Slam attack – but Mewtwo countered by blasting the Pikachu away with Psychic power. Kikka caught the Pikachu with his talons and shrieked at Red. They could still fight.

"_This is easier than I was expecting. Truly, I have been trained well, but I was not expecting the trainers of Kanto to be so weak._" Mewtwo frowned. "_Even Sabrina fell so quickly before me, and Koga chose to hide rather than fight me. And that Doctor has no Pokémon with him, so he's not even interesting… Pathetic. How am I supposed to know the joy of a struggle if you are all so beneath me?_" Mewtwo's tail began twitching violently. Air began circulating around the creature. The creature began exerting a psychic pressure on Red and his team, which they struggled to repel.

"What are you!?" asked Red.

"_I am the strongest Pokémon to ever exist! The master of Psychic powers! And if I am not so now, I will soon become so! You cannot defeat me with your meager power!_" Mewtwo sent another blast of Psychic power at Red, who flinched and braced himself for impact. Instead of getting hit, he subconsciously teleported himself over to Tesla and Kikka – which he realized upon opening his eyes.

"_Hmph. You cannot even harm me. I thought you would entertain me, but instead y_-" Mewtwo was interrupted by a Thunderbolt smacking him in the face. That, at least, forced him back and dulled his vision. "_Ugh. But even that canno-_" Mewtwo was interrupted again by Tesla's psychically reinforced tail Slamming him in the gut. Kikka then hit him in the back of the head with Fly, and escaped before Mewtwo could hit him with a Psychic blast. "_Gah! Y-you!_"

Mewtwo oriented himself in the direction of those two Pokémon and continuously sent Psychic blasts at them. It took all of Kikka's skill to avoid them, even while Mewtwo was impaired. Even so, Kikka taunted Mewtwo anyway.

"~pi! pidgeot!~" Ha! You couldn't even hit a Snorlax with these!

"~pika…~" Please don't taunt it…

"_ARGH! TAKE THIS!_" Mewtwo sent out a powerful blast of Psychic power in all directions. Red braced himself, so he wasn't too hurt – but it knocked out Tesla and Kikka immediately. He recalled them both. "I guess I have no choice but to…" He interrupted himself when he saw something on the horizon. Mewtwo was about to comment on the approaching psychic power, but he felt a sudden pain in his skull. This was followed by a blast of power that slammed him into the Silph tower.

"_Gah! This could only be only one person! Sabrina!_" Mewtwo roared.

True enough, Sabrina was floating in between Red and Mewtwo. She was wearing her usual attire – a red black that turned black around the torso, red boots, and black tights. Her pink eyes were glowing with psychic power and her black hair was flowing with the wind. In contrast, Mewtwo's skin seemed to be bristling and the tip of the creature's tail was twitching furiously.

"Red, thank you for getting this far. I may dislike battling, but I can handle the rest."

"_Ha! I've beaten you before! You dare try again so soon!?_" spat Mewtwo. Did the human think that he could be defeated so easily by someone so weak? She would soon learn! "_Fool! No weakling can defeat me! I am the strongest!_"

Sabrina smirked. "We'll see about that."

* * *

><p>Back in the tower, Blue and Leaf were attempting to hold off 'Giovanni' in a 4-on-4 battle. Despite how chaotic it was – and despite the fact that the two of them had to constantly refer to Blue's PokéDex in order to direct the Espeon and Primeape – they were doing very well. 'Giovanni' was on the ropes. The overall type advantage helped.<p>

"These kids sure are something, aren't they?" asked the Silph president of Dr. Sakaki.

"I suppose so," replied the Earth Doctor. He then pushed the president out of the way of a stray rock. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Hm… oh right! Our labs! Our employees! I need to make sure they're okay!" The Silph president ran out of his office to an elevator. Dr. Sakaki followed him.

Leaf noticed something out her eye's corner. "Primeape, watch out for that Rhyhorn! Use Karate Chop on it! Espeon, keep using Swift on the Nidoqueen!"

The Rhyhorn tried to impale Ao using a Fury Attack, but Ao side-stepped it thanks to Leaf's warning. He Karate Chopped the Rhyhorn twice, which was enough to knock the beast out. Ao then went back to fighting the Kangaskhan, which had just tried to smash his face in with a Mega Punch.

"~PRIMEAPE!~" Bring it on!

Geselle, not knowing any actual Psychic-type moves yet, was backing up Blue's Alakazam and Umbreon with Swift. Blue's Umbreon chuckled when he learned that the Espeon couldn't use its own power, for which he received a Cut to the face. Thanks to his keeping the Nidorino and Nidoqueen confused with Confuse Ray, that Cut was all of the damage he had received all battle.

"~breon~" Can't even take a joke…

"~on!~" Hmph!

"~kazam~" You didn't make a joke, dude.

Blue's Alakazam set up another Future Sight trap for their Poison-type assailants to fall into while dodging their confused attacks. Umbreon kept kicking dust at them, and Espeon was attacking them from a distance. Once the Future Sight trap was activated, the two Poison-types were hit with a sphere of Psychic power, knocking them both into the Kangaskhan.

"~kan!~" Oof!

"~APE! PRIMEAPE!~" Now! Take this!

Using the Seismic Toss technique, Ao redirected the momentum from that impact and slammed the Kangaskhan into the floor. Unfortunately, for the Kangaskhan, it was so heavy and moving with such force that it broke through the floor. It took a critical amount of damage, knocking it out instantly on impact. For good measure, Ao Karate Chopped it again anyway, before jumping back to the 11th floor. Ao roared triumphantly.

"I hope the Silph President doesn't get mad at us for that…" said Leaf.

"Eh, we'll just blame Red. His Pokémon did it. Now then! Giovanni, surrender!" yelled Blue, pointing at 'Giovanni'. Umbreon began growling at the masked man; Alakazam simply glared at him.

"Surrender? Why should I? I have not yet lost! Mewtwo will easily crush your friend, and return here to finish y-!"

He was interrupted by Mewtwo flying through the window back into the office, and slamming into the metal door. The door crumpled around the creature from the impact, and they collapsed onto the floor. Mewtwo didn't get back up, but instead weakly crawled from the wreckage.

"_How… are you… so much stronger…, Sabrina…_?" Mewtwo fainted.

Blue, Leaf and 'Giovanni' turned back to the window, where they felt a presence. It was actually two – Sabrina and Red. "And that's what happens when I take off my limiter. Anymore questions, Mr. 'Fake leader of Team Rocket'?"

"This one's a fake too?" asked Red.

'Giovanni' nodded. "I don't know who he really is either. I just followed orders. If he was ever here, he's long gone by now. Anyway, I surrender. Mewtwo just teleported away though."

Everyone except Sabrina and the masked man turned to where the genetic creature was once lying unconscious, and found that it was gone. But Red felt that Mewtwo was so humiliated from losing to Sabrina's strength, that the creature was no threat right now. Some officers from the Saffron City police decided to finally show themselves, and took away the masked man. Sabrina and the colored trio left the building.

As for Dr. Sakaki, he learned much from his tour of the building, and got a souvenir for himself.

Many souvenirs.


	10. Psychic - A Theme

Chapter 10 – Psychic: A Theme

It would take a long time for Saffron City to fully recover from Team Rocket's attack. The grunts stole the Pokémon of most of the city's inhabitants and took them out of Saffron. The police, not knowing where Team Rocket went in between their attacks, couldn't do anything for the Saffron citizens.

They could do even less for Silph Corporation. The president forgave the damage that his saviors did to his office, figuring that it was not the worst outcome. Reconstruction on it began within a week of the attack, and the president moved his office down a few floors. What was more important to him was Team Rocket's attack on his company. Not only had they terrorized him and his employees, they also made off with several important prototypes and stole important data and secret plans. Most of what was left was unusable.

The President could only give a sigh, and tell his employees that they would have to deal with it. They couldn't disappoint their investors or the trainers who used their products, right? Silph Corporation resumed operations the day after the attack, two days before the Saffron police ended the lockdown they had put the city under while arresting all of the Rocket grunts.

To pull off an occupation of a city the size of Saffron City required, the police thought, hundreds of grunts at the least. Saffron wasn't a small city. Yet they ended up arresting only 108 grunts, including the masked man who was leading them. Either Team Rocket was more powerful than they realized, or many of the grunts had escaped like they had from Celadon. They were one of first groups targeted in the Rocket invasion and were defeated then, so they had no idea what Team Rocket's actual aim was. When they learned that it was the Silph Tower again, the number of arrests began to make more sense. They gave thanks to the gym leaders and trainers who broke the siege for them.

So did Silph's president, also offering Red and Blue a gift. It was a Pokéball, but was differently colored – the top half was purple with two pink circles instead of red. There was also a white M printed on the top half. Red looked at it curiously while Blue pocketed it.

"Those are two of our prototype Master Balls. I feel that they will be safer with you. They are designed to catch any wild Pokémon, even if they are at full health! Please test them against a strong Pokémon and tell us how they work," said the Silph president. Blue and Red nodded.

The city gradually picked itself up. A few other buildings were damaged in the raid and were gradually repaired. Sabrina's gym and the Fighting Dojo re-opened.

"I'll be waiting for you, Red…" said Sabrina to him. She teleported away before he could retort.

"Thank you for your assistance, Blue. If you ever come by Fuchsia City again, I would like to see you. Red, I will also be waiting for your challenge. Don't disappoint me." Koga then disappeared like a ninja.

Brock and Lt. Surge simply said thanks and returned to their home cities.

"I better get going too!" added Blue. "Unlike some people, _I_ have to get to Cinnabar and get my seventh badge! Smell ya later, Red! Take care, Leaf!" Blue pulled out his bike and rode away before Red could defend himself. He seethed. One of these days, he'd catch back up to Blue! In fact, he'd go even further and become the Champion!

Leaf patted him on the head. "Aww, don't let him get to you!"

"But he's right! If I don't hurry, he'll reach the Indigo Plateau before me!" countered Red. "I have to challenge Sabrina." He started walking. Leaf followed him.

"You don't have to stick around me, you know? Your parents are probably worried about you." Red knew that his mom was worried too, but she trusted in his ability to defeat Team Rocket. Leaf, however, was not a trainer. Her parents were probably freaking out.

"Yeah, but I wanna see your match against Sabrina. Also, what about this?" Leaf pulled out the Pokéball that the mystery grunt gave to them. Red pulled out his PokéDex and pulled it at the Pokéball. It told him that it contained a Lapras with no Trainer ID. He pulled up the entry on Lapras.

"The 'Transport Pokémon', huh? I don't have any Water-types other than Magikarp. I'll need one to reach Cinnabar Island."

"Can you take care of it, then?"

Red nodded and accepted the Lapras. He registered it to his ID and sent it to Oak's Lab. Leaf left to show her parents that she was alright. Red dashed over to the Saffron Gym. That gym replicated the look of a _haiden_ (Shinto hall of worship); only the sign in front gave a clue as to the building's true purpose. It was at least twice the size of the Fighting Dojo that sat right next to it, which made Red wonder if Sabrina was trying to imply something.

Red entered the building, stepping into a small room with no other exits. The walls were of thick wood, and he presumed Sabrina would mind if he decided to try and knock them down. It held two statues and a warp panel. "More warp panels?" Red stuck his tongue out at the panel.

It suddenly began glowing, and he stepped away from it. The familiar blue-shirted man appeared and walked over to Red. "Yo! Champ in the making! Thanks for taking care of Team Rocket! You didn't have any problems beating Erika, I take it?"

"Nope!" replied Red. The man gave Red a high five.

"Excellent! That's why I'm behind you 100%! Anyway, Sabrina's Pokémon use Psychic power! Fighting-types aren't any good here! They'll be KOed before they can even get a hit in! But you can still use other physical attacks on them! Got it?"

Red nodded. He was already planning to rely on Rei and Geselle here. He stepped onto the warp panel and began his Gym challenge. The man stayed behind.

He put a hand to his chin. "Psychic power, huh? I bet I'd make a killing at the slots if I had that."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, in one of Team Rocket's secret bases, Mewtwo was recovering from his battle with Sabrina. Although he could use the move Recover, the clone was too exhausted to expend any of his reserve energy on that. Sabrina had pushed him as far as he could go.<p>

He just couldn't keep up.

He drifted in and out of consciousness. Several people in lab coats were constantly around him. He could feel himself floating and breathing in fluid. He must be in a stasis chamber.

Where was his Father?

"He'll be here soon, Mewtwo. You just focus on recovering. You strained yourself in Saffron, but some good rest will fix you right up!"

Is that so? Maybe Father could tell him why he couldn't win. And why he felt so empty…

Mewtwo fell back into the caress of gentle darkness.

* * *

><p>The center chamber of the Saffron Gym resembled the Fighting Dojo. At the heart of the Gym was a large and raised wooden platform for trainers to battle against Sabrina. At the back of that chamber was a smaller purple platform where Sabrina sat and meditated while waiting for challengers. Her inner harmony could only be disturbed by either the buzzing of a warp panel alerting her that she had a guest or one of her Pokémon communicating with her.<p>

There was a buzzing. She opened her eyes and saw Red warping into the room.

"I was wondering how much longer you would take. Are you ready?" she asked.

Red nodded.

"Very well then. I dislike battling, but I am obligated as the Saffron City Gym Leader to face you. If you defeat me, the Marsh Badge is yours." She summoned her Kadabra by teleporting it into the chamber. Red called out Rei.

"Do not think that I will be beaten so easily by a poisonous ghost. Kadabra, Psybeam." The Psi Pokémon's eyes glowed and it fired beams of psychic power from the air. Rei dodged them, but then the Kadabra generated another one behind Rei and struck her in the back, knocking her to the ground.

"Rei! Counter with Shadow Punch!"

"_Understood._" Rei's floating hands began to glow gray and she began pantomiming punches at the Kadabra. A shadowy fist came out of her hand each time she punched the air, and each one was headed straight for the Kadabra. The Kadabra knew from experience that it could not dodge these punches, so it tried to instead blast through them with a powerful Psybeam. The power-beam and most of the Shadow Punches met in between the two and reacted with an explosion, but the rest of the punches went around the blast and struck the Kadabra.

The Kadabra was knocked back but not out from the punches, so Red mentally commanded Rei to fire some more and then float over to the Kadabra. The Kadabra, seeing the attacks coming, put up a Reflect barrier to lessen the damage from the hits, but that barrier didn't stop him from falling asleep due to Rei's Hypnosis attack. A single Dream Eater was enough to knock out the Kadabra from there.

Sabrina sent her Kadabra away and brought in her Mr. Mime (and also the rest of her team). Seeing that it was fighting a Ghost-type, the mime immediately put up a Barrier around himself. Rei threw out Shadow Punches at the Barrier – most of them bounced off harmlessly. The few that hit did super-effective damage, but not enough for Red's liking. Red commanded Rei to use Hypnosis. In response, Mr. Mime switched out – using Baton Pass so that the Barrier would stay up – for Sabrina's Venomoth. The moth avoided Rei's gaze and fired a Supersonic blast of noise at the Ghost-type. Rei became confused.

Red called her back and brought out K2. K2 roared at the poison moth.

"K2, use Defense Curl and Rollout!" "Venomoth, Psybeam."

K2 curled up in a ball, boosting its Defense, and then rolled towards the Venomoth. The Venomoth fired a beam of psychic energy from her forehead at the rolling Graveler, which missed. She fired several more; K2 rolled past or around them. He then launched himself at the Venomoth, dealing massive damage and stunning her. She fell to the ground and was promptly run over by the Graveler, knocking her out. The Barrier broke.

Sabrina lifted the Venomoth off the platform using her psychic power and sent in her Alakazam. K2, still rolling, changed directions and headed straight at the Alakazam. In response, the Alakazam blasted K2 into a wall using Psychic. That wasn't enough to knock out the Graveler, but he had to step out. Red sent Geselle out. Her resistance to Psychic attacks and ability to use Bite, a Dark-type move, should be enough to favor her even though the Alakazam was more experienced.

"~espeon!~" |Leave it to me!|

They had planned this out beforehand, so Geselle was able to direct herself. The Alakazam assaulted her with Psychic power, but she was able to run around and dodge most of the invisible blasts by sensing them through her fur. At the same time, she sent out waves of Swift stars at the Psi Pokémon. All she had to do was wait out the attacks, because the Alakazam only had 25 powerful attacks in him – ten for Psychic and fifteen for Future Sight, a Psychic attack that countered future blows.

Once she felt a lull in the attacks, Geselle rushed at the Alakazam. He calmed his mind and focused on increasing his Special Defense, expecting a Psychic-type attack. He was not expecting a Cut to the face, followed by being receiving a Bite on the arm. Focus lost, the Alakazam could not use his mental powers to recover his health, so Geselle kept biting and cutting him until he fell over, knocked out.

Sabrina lifted her Alakazam off the platform and sent in her Mr. Mime, which had witnessed the brutal carnage. All Geselle had to do was show off her (psychically-sharpened) teeth at the mime for her to reconsider the battle and run off of the battle platform.

"Yes! Good job Geselle!" cheered Red. The Espeon beamed at her trainer and radiated warmth.

_I lost this easily?_ asked Sabrina. _What have I been doing while these children were training with all of their power? I must try harder, despite my inclinations. Maybe I should go to Koga for training…_ She put up a smiling front for Red, because he still won fairly. "A loss is a loss. Here is your Marsh Badge. And a TM as a gift – perhaps your Espeon will find it useful."

The Marsh Badge was plain and simple, much like Sabrina thought herself to be – it was a gold circle with a concentric black outline drawn inside of it. She handed that and a lavender colored CD to Red. Red thanked her. She wished him good luck on his journey and he left.

A journey… maybe she should go on one herself. It might do her some good.

* * *

><p>The worst thing about the Saffron Gym, Red found, was the warp panels. Navigating them was a pain, even though he remembered the path he took to get to Sabrina's chamber. As he left the gym, he saw an odd sight – Leaf was running towards the gym and waving at him, followed by another Leaf. Red blinked, rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to make sure he was actually seeing this.<p>

"Red! Did I miss your match?" asked Leaf #1. Red nodded.

"Boo! I wanted to see it!" yelled Leaf #2.

"Yeah! Me too!" added Leaf #1. Then she got an idea. "Hey, why don't you challenge Kiyo?"

"Please, Red! I want to see you in action!" added Leaf #2.

The two Leafs continued pressing him like this until he agreed to go along with them. They then escorted him into the Fighting Dojo – or rather, they dragged him in by the arm. They yelled into the Dojo as one, presenting Red as a challenger. The students in the Dojo immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to face their new opponent. Kiyo, upon realizing who their challenger was, told his students to stand down.

"Hmph! You again! We have no badge to offer you! I thank you for what you have done for this city, but have nothing to offer you!" He then put a hand to his chin. "Well, I suppose I could offer you a Fighting-type Pokémon, but I am told you already use one. May I see it?"

Red brought out Ao, his Primeape. Kiyo observed the Primeape.

"You are doing well enough in raising this Primeape," said Kiyo. Red recalled Ao.

"We just want to see Red battle!" The Leafs decided to finally speak up, starting with #1. Or it might have been #2, Red wasn't sure.

"Yeah! We missed him defeating Sabrina!" added the other Leaf.

"Oh! You've defeated Sabrina! Then I want to test myself against you!"

Red sighed. The battle itself was a total shutout. The match was a double battle – Kiyo's Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee against Kikka and Geselle. Red used a basic strategy of divide and conquer. Kikka conquered the Hitmonlee. Geselle defeated the Hitmonchan.

"Hwaa! I lost!" They both recalled their Pokémon. Red was getting the feeling that despite their Pokémon's strength, the leaders of Saffron weren't very good trainers. "My Pokémon and I must need more karate training!" continued Kiyo.

_I don't think that's the problem here…_ thought Red.

"Whoa! Awesome!" "Not even Blue was that brutal!" commented the leaf duo. The three of them left the Fighting Dojo, leaving Kiyo to be consoled by his students. Red was finally allowed to go to the Pokémon Center and heal his team. While waiting on that, he had to do something about this confusing situation.

"Okay Leaf, why is there suddenly two of y…" He blinked. Instead of a second Leaf, he was staring at a copy of himself!

He blinked. So did the copy.

He raised his right hand. So did the copy.

He stuck his tongue out. So did the copy.

Red pointed at the copy. "Who are you!?"

The copy chuckled at Red, but didn't imitate him. "Hi! I'm the Copycat, Leaf's friend! Pleased to meet you!" The Copycat stuck her hand out for Red to shake. A hesitant Red shook hands with 'himself'.

Leaf smiled, amused by the whole situation. "I bet you had trouble telling us apart earlier!"

"…A little, yeah."

"My imitation skills are as good as a ninja's!" The Copycat then laughed like a ninja.

"Yeah! Remember how we tricked Sabrina into thinking I could teleport? Oh, Red doesn't know this story." Leaf then began telling Red about how she and the Copycat once tricked the very-much-a-mind-reader Sabrina into thinking that Leaf was also an esper. It reminded Red that his abilities had sealed themselves again. Maybe when his journey was over, he could ask Sabrina to teach him how to use them. Right now it was better for him not to have them.

Nurse Joy returned his Pokémon to him, and thanked him for coming. He went over to the public phone and called his mom to re-assure her that he was alright. He then went to the PC and swapped out Ao for the Lapras from the Rocket grunt. He named her Silph. According to the PokéDex, she was at Level 25 and knew 4 moves – Water Gun, Confuse Ray, Body Slam and Perish Song. _It'll take some time before she's ready to help fight Blaine_, he thought.

Done with the city of commerce, he said his goodbyes to Leaf and the Copycat and left the city. His destination: Fuchsia City. He could take the Cycling Road to get there quickly.

* * *

><p>Most trainers had to ride a Surfing Pokémon to get from the mainland to Cinnabar Island. Dr. Sakaki, being a trainer of Ground-type Pokémon exclusively, used none of that classification. And he didn't want to go around with stolen Pokémon before he was able to discard his civilian identity, so he rented a boat from Vermillion to get that island so that he could reach one of his secret laboratories – the Pokémon Mansion. Mewtwo was recovering there, the place where he was created.<p>

Mewtwo – the Project M. Team Rocket's secret genetics project, built on technology stolen from Silph Corporation. Now that Mewtwo was in the testing phase, there was little Silph could give them to improve the clone. However, Silph technology could be used a springboard for new technology. All for the future: a Japan dominated by Team Rocket. Many Pokémon common to Kanto and Johto were rare in other regions, so they were fine with smuggling those Pokémon, but that did not satisfy him. They would need to capture the rarest Pokémon they could.

This led to the formation of Project Triad. The capture of the titans – Articuno; Zapdos; Moltres.

All other species of so-called 'legendary' Pokémon escaped them, so these birds would have to do. Dr. Sakaki did not take these legends seriously, but expected that some specimens of the bird triad may yet survive. But those birds were not enough.

The true obstacle, despite recent interference from children, was the Elite Four, the so-called strongest of Kanto and Johto. They were too powerful to face in a Pokémon battle, even if he mustered their entire force. He needed Mewtwo and those birds to stand a chance. Otherwise, he may as well disband the group and go back to his day job. Yes, one of the Elite Four was neutralized – Lorelei, the Ice Queen – as they had taken over her home island, but he had the feeling that she was just biding her time and waiting to reclaim it from them. However, they had to answer for the other three yet. His hope for the moment was sheer overwhelming power.

For a moment, he considered that Lorelei might be the one directing those children against him. Perhaps she had even infiltrated their organization – it wasn't as though he could watch over every grunt they had. He might need to promote some grunts to administrators to check on this. The two he had ordered to handle Sevii Island business would be good candidates.

His boat landed at the harbor behind the Pokémon Mansion and he put on his mask. The mansion had the appearance of a Western-style beach mansion. A subtle Psychic influence emanated from the mansion, telling the island's dwellers to stay away from it. Team Rocket members were told to just ignore it, as he was. He took the stairs down inside the mansion to the laboratory, where several researchers were either observing computers or watching Mewtwo, who was lying on a patient's bed with various sensors attached to him.

'Giovanni' coughed. Everyone in the lab froze. The researchers saw that it was just their boss and calmed down. Mewtwo, however, grew more apprehensive.

"_H-hello, Father-Giovanni. Are you well?_" asked the clone.

"Am _I_ well? I ought to ask _you_ that," replied the Earth Doctor, walking up to the clone. "Sabrina was stronger than I calculated. It seems that she was hiding her true power."

"_Y-yes, she was. I wasn't… I didn't… I…_" Mewtwo froze. He was supposed to be the strongest Pokémon, and yet he fell before someone he had already defeated. He should have expected her to come back stronger. And that trainer… he could have taken that child out any time, yet he merely toyed with Red. And for all his arrogance, Red and his team put on a good fight.

"Mewtwo, you will have more opportunities to prove yourself in the future. Remember, you are still in the testing phase. You have to grow into your power. You're not yet at full strength. One day, you will be the most powerful Pokémon to have ever lived… but that day is not today. Understand?"

Mewtwo nodded. That wasn't the encouraging message he was expecting, but it was true. For him to lose in such a manner meant that he was not as powerful as he claimed. And each moment that he hesitated here was a moment where he could not claim that title. So there was not time to waste on sorrow. He had to close his heart of all emotions except the hunger for power.

Upon his thinking that, there was a subtle change in the air around him. Only a few of the researchers, including Giovanni noticed. Giovanni smiled under his mask. He had doubts about this project at first – he was even convinced that the procedure to create Mewtwo would not have worked! Despite his doubts, he saw that the project was going well. Mewtwo would be useful.

Mewtwo used Recover, and regained his full stamina. There was no time to sit around and mope. He had to continue training, and growing stronger. Then nothing would be able to stand before him, not even Red or Sabrina! The thought of victory warmed him up and caused him to unconsciously increase his power. He already felt stronger than before. He laughed with joy and power.

The next day, he began his training once more inside the Mansion. 'Giovanni' left for elsewhere. A key part of his plot was in motion; another had just begun to turn.

One way or another, a decisive battle was coming.


	11. Heat in the Jungle!

Chapter 11 – Heat in the Jungle!

Red made his way back to Celadon City, and kept going west past that. He could take one of two routes to reach Fuchsia City – south through Lavender Town or by using the Cycling Road shortcut. The Cycling Road was all downhill from Celadon, making it the faster route.

There was just one problem – a Snorlax was blocking the entrance to the Cycling Road. Route 16 was to the south of the mountains where many Snorlax called their home, and it seemed that this one had migrated too far south. It was fast asleep in front of the gate. A crowd of bikers surrounded the sleeping Pokémon, talking in a crowd. Red approached them, listening in to their conversation.

"I told you! Tickling it doesn't work!"

"Well, what else should we try?"

"What if you attack it with your Mankey?"

"No way, man! I just wanna wake it up, not piss it off!"

"So now what? It's not like we can pick it up."

"What if we…"

Red interrupted the bikers with a cough. He brought out a Pokéball.

"Leave this to me. I have an idea," he stated calmly.

"Oh! Look at this kid, acting all cool!" said one of the bikers.

"Give it a shot then! We're stumped!" exclaimed one of the others.

Red ignored them and brought out Rei. He commanded her to use Dream Eater on the Snorlax, thinking that disturbing the Snorlax's dreams would cause it to awaken. Rei floated over to the slumbering Snorlax and put one of her hands on its head, which began to glow ominously. As the dream was eaten, the Snorlax's expression grew more and more disturbed, and it began flailing its arms about wildly. Everyone backed away from it, not knowing what might happen next.

Suddenly, the Snorlax awoke. It stood on its two massive feet and roared. Feeling something on its head, it grabbed Rei and tried to eat her, but she made herself into gas and flowed through the Snorlax's fingers. This only made the Snorlax grumpier.

"~SNORLAAAAAAAAAAAX!~" MY FOOOOOOOOOD!

The Snorlax turned to face Rei, who had gathered herself to the bear's left. Red knew from the Pokédex that Snorlax was a massive beast of a Pokémon, but seeing it up close made him properly appreciate it. Perhaps waking up the sleeping giant wasn't the best idea. Oh well. He'd just have to either drive it away or catch it. But first, he had to draw it away from the gate.

It seemed that the Snorlax was willing to cooperate with that plan, as it tried to Headbutt Rei. Several of the bikers warned her to get out of the way, but that wasn't necessary. Being a Ghost-type came with certain advantages. The Normal-type Headbutt couldn't damage her – she just broke apart into a gas and reformed herself. She stuck her tongue out at the Snorlax and laughed.

Veins became prominent in the Snorlax's forehead, and it growled at the gaseous ghost. It attempted another Headbutt with the same result. Rei floated away from the enraged bear, and it followed her – it struggled to damage her, and continued to fail. The bikers and Red just got out of the way. Rei successfully led the Snorlax away from its nice resting spot between bushes and in front of the gate. The bikers thanked Red and promptly escaped.

Red sighed. Yes, let's leave the giant angry bear to the kid and not help him at all!

"Rei, use Hypnosis!"

Rei's eyes glowed blue and she stared directly into the Snorlax's eyes. It promptly fell asleep again, now lying in a patch of tall grass. This Snorlax was strong, yes, but Red didn't feel that he needed one on his team. Still, Prof. Oak or one of his aides might be interested in studying it, so he caught it and sent it over to the lab. He also sent Prof. Oak a warning note with the PokéDex, and he hoped that the old man received it.

Red recalled Rei, brought out his bike and passed through the gate to the Cycling Road.

* * *

><p>Kanto's Cycling Road, unlike many others, was an earthen – instead of metallic – raised road. Red could see several paved and dirt roads all going downhill towards Route 18 and Fuchsia City. There was a patch of tall grass near the start of the Cycling Road, and he could see some Doduo – two-head ostrich-like Pokémon – walking around in it. Both sides of the road were bounded by fences preventing people from falling off into the sea. In the distance, he could see ships coming to and leaving Vermillion City.<p>

He got on his bike and sped down the road. Many bikers were also trainers – he took them all on!

* * *

><p>Fuchsia City was an old village that had recently grown into a small city due to the construction of the Cycling Road and Silence Bridge. It was surrounded by forest on all sides except the south, where a small beach surrounded by rocks faded into the ocean. Being an old village, its population wasn't too large, and people weren't in much of a hurry to move there despite its pink serenity. However, thanks to one man – Baoba, the Safari Zone manager – Fuchsia was able to attract tourists with its Safari Zone and Pokémon Zoo. The Zoo was nice because it had something to offer for people that don't raise Pokémon, but the Safari Zone was the true attraction. Well, that and the Fuchsia Gym, ran by so-called ninjas.<p>

Despite the Safari Zone's fame, Red wasn't too interested in it. He had come there to defeat Koga so he could keep advancing. However, there were signs plastered around the city for an interesting promotion. Anybody who went into the Safari Zone and found the Secret House would get a copy of a Hidden Machine for the move Surf. Surf was a powerful move in battle. It could also be used to teach Pokémon how to ferry people across water.

Red could probably find someone in Vermilion City that would take him to Cinnabar Island, but he thought it would be faster and/or easier to just Surf there. He had a Lapras, after all.

And that was how Red found himself in the Safari Zone's entry building, having the rules explained to him by the staff. Upon paying 500 Poke-Dollars, trainers received 30 Safari Balls – differentiated from normal Pokéballs by their green color. They had to leave any Pokémon they had in the building, and were given bait and rocks to use in catching the Pokémon. The game ends when he runs out of Safari Balls.

Red paid his fine and let his Pokémon out to stay in the building. He took the 30 Safari Balls, the bait, the rocks and a map and walked into the Safari Zone.

* * *

><p>The entrance area of the Safari Zone was a large grassy plain encircled by dense forest. At the center was a lake, with an island at the center of the lake. Red couldn't tell if that island also had a lake at its center. There were a few patches of dirt, a rest house, and shrubs blocking off parts of the plain. He supposed that he was supposed find another way into those parts. In fact, he could see paths that led from other areas of the preserve to there.<p>

He glanced around. There were plenty of Pokémon, but no secret house.

Jumping in the lake seemed like a bad idea, so he went down the path leading east. The path continued on into this next area, so Red assumed that he was supposed to follow it. This path took him up and down rocky plateaus, around lakes, through tall grass and encounters with wild Pokémon, and past houses that weren't secret.

When Red passed the third rest house, the path split in two. There didn't seem to be any obvious difference between them – the paths were separated from each other by a wall of lakes, trees and shrubs and both appeared to contain short and tall grass – so Red didn't know which one to pick.

He paused to think about it. There had to be a way to get from the entrance directly to the next area, and that was probably the path that would run closer to the entrance. And given that he was now facing west, and both paths seemed to turn, that path would have to be the one to his left. So he chose the path on the right and followed it to a dirt-and-grass plain. There was no tall grass there – so he was thinking that maybe there was some trick and he'd chosen wrong – but he could see something shining in front of him. Curious, he picked it up and found that it was…

"…golden teeth?" Red raised an eyebrow.

They were a little dirty, but yes! They were golden teeth in a set of dentures. They must belong to someone, so Red decided to bring them back to the front desk. He continued looking around this area and found two other things – a lake and an unmarked building.

Red knocked on the door. No response.

He knocked louder, and then turned the knob to see if it was unlocked. It was, so he entered the building. Inside, he found a young girl napping on the floor, curled up with a green spider-like Pokémon that Red didn't recognize. On the floor next to her was a case with a blue CD.

Red grinned. This must be the secret house!

He carefully walked over to the disc and picked it up. The case was transparent, and the CD read "HIDDEN MACHINE #03" and "SURF" in black text. The girl was dressed like a ninja, so he was expected her to surprise him and suddenly wake up – but she didn't react at all. So he sneaked back out and back tracked to the Safari Zone's entry building, victorious.

* * *

><p>"You're back early." The receptionist, noticing that Red had returned, had asked him if that was all he wanted to do. Most trainers spend a whole day in the Safari Zone – some even bring supplies to stay overnight! – but Red had only been there for a few hours. Red's Pokémon had, for the most part, been docile – the Pikachu and Lapras went to sleep, the Espeon and Haunter appeared to be discussing something, and the Pidgeot and Graveler grew restless and wandered outside the building. They had returned shortly before their trainer did. She didn't mind this party compared to some others she had seen.<p>

"Yeah, I did what I came here to do." Red showed her the HM for Surf.

"Ah~! Good job! How did you get past Janine though?" she asked.

"Is that her name? She was asleep."

The receptionist sighed. Not this again…

"Well, she was supposed to surprise and congratulate you. That girl! She's Koga's daughter you know, so she wants to be an awesome ninja like him. But awesome ninjas don't sleep on the job! In any case, congratulations on finding the secret house! You can keep the HM."

"Thanks," replied Red. He pulled the golden teeth from his backpack. "Do these belong to anyone?"

"Uh…" Where had she seen those before? They looked like… "Oh! Those must be our warden's dentures! His house is to the south of here, would you mind delivering them to him?"

Red didn't mind, so he agreed to the task. He recalled his team and left the building.

"Now I know why they call him Warden Slowpoke! Who loses their dentures in a Pokémon preserve?"

* * *

><p>The homes of Fuchsia City were in two clusters: one between the Gym and Pokémon Center and one in the southeast corner of the city. After accidently entering several wrong houses, Red found the house of the Safari Zone warden, a man named Baoba. He knocked on the door, expecting the warden to answer. Instead, Koga's voice bid him welcome.<p>

"Baoba lost his dentures. Enter."

Red excused himself and entered the warden's house. The warden and Koga were sitting at a table and drinking tea.

"Um, I found the warden's dentures." Red pulled them out of his bag and handed them to the warden – an old and short man with round glasses, trim gray hair and a bushy gray mustache. The warden mumbled something indistinct and took them. He put the golden dentures back in his mouth. Finally, he could speak again!

Baoba thanked Red. "Oh, this is wonderful! I had to try and pantomime while talking to Koga. He's very perceptive, but it's better to just talk. Where did I leave these? Hm…" He looked at the ceiling, is if it would give him the answer. Red told him that they were lying around in the Safari Zone by the Secret House.

"Oh my! That's rather careless of me. I'm surprised that none of the Pokémon tried to take them. Some of them do like shiny things, you know. I must repay you for this! What can I do for you, child?" He looked at the ceiling again. Red was about to say that rewarding him was unnecessary, but the warden got an idea. He gave Red a white CD in a transparent case.

"This is a Hidden Machine for Strength. You can use this to teach your Pokémon how to move large boulders and other such detritus! I found it useful in building the Safari Zone, but no longer need it."

Red thanked the old man.

Koga spoke up. "Such an exceptional child you are… Fighting against Team Rocket at your age and wandering around this region of ours. Red and Blue. I think I will remember your names for some time. I suppose you came to this city to challenge me."

Red nodded.

"Not as talkative as your counterpart either. I think I prefer respectful children like that… That's how I've tried to raise my daughter. You must have seen her in the Secret House, yes?"

Red answered honestly. "Yes, but she was asleep."

Koga brought a hand to his forehead and sighed. That girl still had a long way to go. Well, it's not like he was going anywhere, so they had plenty of time. Then he laughed, confusing Red.

"Fwahahaha! To be challenged by such strong Trainers, and yet they are merely children! The very idea!" Koga stood up. "It fills me with a joy I haven't felt in a long time! Very well then, I shall show you my skills as a ninja master and Gym Leader. But I must prepare the Gym first! Be there in an hour."

With that, Koga left the warden's house in a hurry. The warden chuckled with mirth.

"Oh my! I haven't seen Koga this excited in a long time! You and your friend must be something. Do you mind if I watch the Gym battle?"

Red didn't mind at all.

* * *

><p>Red and Baoba entered the gym, one hour later. It was modeled after an old Japanese mansion and was built into a large rock. Koga was standing on a large platform in the center of the gym, and several trainers were wandering around. The blue shirted man was there by the entrance and greeted Red.<p>

"Yo! Champ in the making! Koga looks close, right? But check this!" The man stuck his hand out behind him and rested it on what looked to Red like thin air. However, the man and the warden knew better – Koga's gym used invisible walls. Koga himself chuckled at Red's shocked face.

The man nodded. "Yeah, this Gym is tricky! It's loaded with invisible walls! You need to find gaps in the walls to reach Koga." He pointed to the entrance to the invisible maze. Remembering that he was pointing at a space where there wasn't an invisible object, he stood in it instead. "I can help you this much, but you have to do the rest on your own! OK?"

Red nodded and entered the invisible maze. He walked slowly, feeling the walls around him to tell when they ended. Red was expecting the maze path to take him past each of the Gym Trainers to weaken his team before he faced Koga. A good strategy.

Sure enough, Red wandered into the path of a Juggler. "Hey! If you want to keep going you have to beat… my Hypno!"

Red blinked. Wasn't this a Poison-type Gym?

Evidently the Juggler either didn't know that or didn't care. He sent out a Hypno, a short humanoid Pokémon with yellow fur, which was very much not a Poison-type – it was purely a Psychic-type. Well, Geselle could handle Psychic types too, so Red sent out his Espeon.

Geselle looked at her opponent, confused. Didn't her master just beat the Psychic-type Gym?

"Geselle, use Bite!" The Espeon lunged at the Hypno and bit it on the arm. It flailed about, Struggling to get the Espeon off. Geselle did let go, but only to Cut the Hypno's face and fire Swift stars at the stunned Hypno. The Hypno tried to counter with Hypnosis, but Geselle was able to sense when the attacks were coming and avoid them. Another Cut knocked it out.

"Argh! I lost! Alright, you can go."

Red kept Geselle out and continued slowly along the maze. Geselle asked Red why he was sticking his arms out; he explained the Gym to her.

"~esp! espeon!~" Ah! I can sense a turn coming up!

Geselle took the lead, running down the invisible corridors.

Red followed her, trusting in her abilities.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Koga had added extra pathways to confuse trainers, but some of them connected so that one could avoid the Gym trainers and reach Koga with a fresh team. Blue, not knowing this, just plowed his way through the Gym Trainers – Red, however, avoided them all except the first. Led by Geselle, they quickly reached the Gym's center.<p>

"Well! You've arrived early. I wanted to watch your battle technique and study it, but it seems I won't be able to do that. In any case, let's begin! I will show you the creeping horror of the Poison-type!" With those words spoken, Koga sent out a Koffing, a purple Pokémon shaped roughly like a meteorite. Geselle stepped forward.

Koga chuckled. "Relying on type advantages? A good move. However! Koffing, Smokescreen!"

The Koffing spewed out thick clouds of smoke from its pores, obscuring its location and the battlefield. Red could hear Geselle's coughing coming from somewhere in the smoke. He remembered that Swift always hit its target. "Geselle, use-!"

Koga interrupted him. "Koffing, use Selfdestruct!"

An explosion erupted from the smoke, and those watching the battle had to turn their eyes away from the blinding light. Red called out to his partner, god his cry was absorbed by the blast's loud roar. The smoke was pushed aside by the blast revealing an unconscious Koffing and Espeon. However, the Espeon's eyes opened and she weakly stood up.

"Geselle, return!" Red recalled her back to her Pokéball. She was in no condition to fight right now. Self-destruct was ineffective on ghosts, so Red sent out Rei in response to another Koffing. Rei used Hypnosis on the Koffing, and ate its dreams until it fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Hmph! Not bad! Now try this." Koga sent out his Weezing. Haunter was also a Poison-type Pokémon, so there wasn't much Koga could do against it with this Weezing or with his only remaining Pokémon – a Muk. This Weezing also was put to sleep and defeated by the power of the Dream Eater. Finally, Koga was left with his Muk.

"Let's finish this! Rei, use Hypnosis!" Rei's eyes shined a bright blue and she beckoned the Muk to sleep.

The Muk resisted the call.

Koga commanded it to use Minimize, and it shrunk in size. Now it was able to simply avoid Rei's gaze.

However, it could not avoid the Shadow Punch technique. Muk retaliated by hurling blobs of Sludge at the poisonous ghost. The match became a contest to see which was stronger as a defense: Muk's natural bulkiness or Haunter's double type resistance to Poison, a fact Red discovered during the battle.

The war of attrition dragged on, but the victor soon became clear. The Muk collapsed in on its sludgy blob of a self, weary and weak from all the damage. Rei wasn't in much better shape, barely hovering above the ground, but she was still able to fight.

"_That was quite exhausting. Your Muk was a tough opponent,_" said Rei to Koga.

Koga accepted the compliment. He would need to alter his strategy to prevent such a defeat from happening again. He recalled his Muk. "You have proven your strength! Here! Take this Soul Badge!" Koga tossed the badge at Red, who had just recalled Rei. It was in the shape of heart and was pink in color.

"It is inscribed with a spell to increase your Pokémon's defense. Also, take this as well! It is a secret technique my family has developed over 400 years! The Excessive Poison technique we call 'Toxic'. Pokémon who are afflicted by Toxic suffer from a poisoning that only grows more potent with time! You were able to avoid it because of your strategy, but most trainers are not so skilled."

Red looked at the purple CD through its transparent case. That sounded like a powerful technique. Rei might find it useful. He thanked Koga and slowly navigated his way back out of the maze, now that Geselle was not guiding him. From there, he left the Gym, accompanied by the Warden who went on excitedly about the match.


	12. Articuno and Team Rocket and Me

Chapter 12 – Articuno and Team Rocket and Me

Fuchsia City has a beach. You would never know it from talking to the people in the city, because they rarely mention it. It wasn't anything more than a patch of sand nuzzled between rocks. The beach ran downhill to the south, leaving three small ledges, and it gently sloped into the southern ocean.

Red stared down the horizon. Somewhere to the southwest was Cinnabar Island, home to the seventh Kanto Gym Leader – Blaine. The Hotheaded Quiz Master.

According to his map, he had to follow a sea route south that turned to the west. Along the way, he would pass the Seafoam Islands. It would be a good place to train before the match, he thought. Not too many trainers hung out in the open ocean, after all.

Red brought out Silph, his Lapras. The plesiosaur-like Pokémon cooed at him from the water's edge. He hopped on as carefully as he could, showed her the map and pointed the way to go.

* * *

><p>The water route was long, and the gentle noise of the rolling waves had brought Red to sleep. When he awoke, it was night – only the stars provided enough light for him to see naturally. From his bag, he pulled out a flashlight and his map. In the distance he could see two large rocks adjacent to each other; from the map, he surmised that they were approaching the Seafoam Islands.<p>

_OK_, thought Red. _This is good. I should be able to climb around those rocks and skip those islands for now. I can come back after reaching Cinnabar._

Silph and Red approached the island. The two large rocks Red had seen before were connected on one of the islands, and were actually caverns that led to a frozen underground maze. At least, that's what he had been told. Having no gear for the cold, he thought it might be good to skip the underground passageways.

However, he also saw several boats docked on the island shore. Curious, he brought Silph over to them. No one was in the boats. Shining his flashlight over them, he could see that a red "R" was plastered on the sides of the boats. That was the symbol of Team Rocket.

Red brought Silph over to the island shore and brought Silph back into her Pokéball. He brought out Geselle, and her head crystal glowed slightly in the night. That and his flashlight would have to do for light. Espeon were also Pokémon that naturally radiated warmth, so he would be able the cold for now. Geselle, sensing his thoughts, nuzzled up to him.

'_Shouldn't we get some help? I can sense more than a few grunts in the air. They're in there with something powerful_,' she thought at him. That was a good idea, but who could he ask? The only strong trainers nearby were with Blaine's gym, but Kikka only had enough room to carry Red. And Blaine didn't use any Flying-type Pokémon himself. No Gym leaders in Kanto did. He didn't know where any of the Elite Four where, and even if he did, he couldn't contact them from here. Furthermore, he didn't know how long the Rockets would be in there. The only person he knew who could get here quickly enough was Sabrina, who could teleport.

…So he might as well ask her. Kikka was a fast flier and could get him to Saffron City relatively quickly. He recalled Geselle, brought out Kikka, and flew to Saffron City.

* * *

><p>He didn't know how Sabrina knew that he was suddenly in Saffron, but she appeared before him soon after he entered the city limits. She asked him what the matter was. He wondered why she didn't just read his mind and know it, but he told her anyway. She frowned at the news that Team Rocket was (probably) up to no good again.<p>

"I will assist you as much as I can," she said. "However, we will want the assistance of Blaine as well. There may be a trap waiting for us, so someone else should know that we entered those caverns." In truth, she didn't feel prepared to battle with Pokémon for now. She had only just begun training herself and put the gym temporarily in the hands of a good friend. However, if this child was willing to battle and came to her like that, then she felt that she had to help.

Blaine was less agreeable to being woken up in the middle of the night, but when he learned that Team Rocket was at the Seafoam Islands he agreed to join them.

And the three of them went into the frozen underground caverns…

* * *

><p>The caves under the Seafoam Islands were not well-travelled, so no one saw the need to install permanent lights there. As such, the path any more than a meter from the entrance was obscured by the darkness. To provide some light and heat for them, Blaine brought out his Ponyta – a small horse-like Pokémon that grew out fire for a mane and tail. The Ponyta gave off enough light for the four of them to see around them; Red's flashlight pointed the way forward.<p>

Forward, in this case, appeared to mean down. The room they were in was a massive chamber composed of ice-covered rock, half of which was slightly raised. When they searched around the chamber, they found three staircases that led down, the third of which was blocked off by rocks. No sign of Team Rocket anywhere.

Sabrina used her abilities to sense out the location of the Rockets. "They are below us."

Blaine brought a hand to his chin. "What has a heart of ice, yet can burn as much as fire? What is both beautiful and deadly? These Rocket grunts must be after the legendary Articuno! It's the only thing down here worth stealing. Well, I'm not letting them get it!" Blaine's Ponyta neighed in agreement.

"Articuno?" asked Red.

"It's one of the three mirages. A legendary bird made of living ice, another of lightning and a third of fire," commented Sabrina.

"Mirages? Bah! I've seen them all myself! They're as real as you and I; they just live in places we humans don't find agreeable. But that's alright!" Blaine laughed. "Hehehehe! Part of the fun of a riddle is solving it."

"So, now the riddle is…?" asked Sabrina. Red stood by them with a blank expression on his face, not knowing what to make of Blaine.

"The riddle is finding Articuno, the Ice Mirage! There we should find our lost Rocket grunts. And if I remember correctly, we need to go this way." Blaine motioned to a hole that had steps carved into it. They followed the hole down further into the caves; Blaine used his Pokéball to transport his Ponyta down.

* * *

><p>There were five levels to the caves under the Seafoam Islands, Blaine explained. Articuno, which was known to be a reclusive Pokémon that avoided conflict, would reside at the very bottom floor. The Team Rocket operatives would have no choice but to go down there. Furthermore, it was too dangerous to go and break apart the cave to make new routes to the bottom, so the Rockets would have followed the path left by the few previous explorers that went through the frosty depths. This was the same path they were now following.<p>

The lower floors were similar in layout to the first floor, only with a lower ceiling. They didn't find anything significant on the first basement level.

On the second level, they found a few Rocket grunts – seven in total. They had all been frozen solid, encased in ice.

"There are still more," said Sabrina as Blaine began to thaw them out with his Fire-type Pokémon. "And these pitiful ones here have not yet died, though they are close. This Articuno must have made care to preserve them."

"Perhaps," replied Blaine. Red said nothing. It seemed that he and Blaine had other ideas.

Even after the Rockets were unfrozen, they remained unconscious. Sabrina teleported them back to the Rocket's boat and left them there. They continued on.

"Do you think that was all of them?" asked Blaine.

"No," answered Red. "They would probably want to make sure that this plot would succeed, after their last few failures. There should be a support group somewhere else – maybe even further down." Maybe even that Mewtwo was in here… No. Mewtwo would have come after them by now, if it was here.

Blaine nodded, finding this reasonable. However, by the time they reached the bottom basement floor, they hadn't seen any more Rocket grunts. Blaine brought out his whole team – a Growlithe, Ponyta, Arcanine and Rapidash – and their combined fire was enough to light the whole cavern. Two rivers passed through the cavern on this floor, and two ice-covered islands floated in the turbulent waters. They were on the larger of the two, and on the smaller of the two lay a human-sized bird with ice-blue feathers, resting on icy rocks. A faint white mist surrounded it.

Blaine chuckled. "That's Articuno, alright! Those grunts never even got down here!"

"Then what froze them?" asked Sabrina.

"And that! That is our next riddle! What freezes like a freezer but isn't one?"

"It'd have to be another Ice-type," added Red. "Could it have been a Jynx?" Jynx were rare Pokémon that supposedly also lived in the Seafoam Islands; they too had control over ice and frost. "Or maybe it was a Dewgong…"

"In any case, we-"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

Blaine was interrupted by the ice-bird's cry. Their group turned to face the Articuno, which had left its roost and taken flight. It then dove down into the river. They could see it going with the flow, and out from the underground. Blaine recalled all his Pokémon, and they quickly made their way to the cave's exit.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Red was right – there were more Team Rocket grunts at the islands.<p>

A small group of them, led by a masked man, had taken a different boat and sailed down a different route, and hid themselves under the cover of night. They were to wait for Articuno to emerge, and then to engage it in battle. Their boss, despite his disbelief in the old myths, had told them to learn those tales and determine if they were useful. According to those myths, Articuno disliked fighting, and would encase itself in a shell of hard ice in order to avoid battle. That would actually be better for them; Team Rocket wasn't known for its skilled Pokémon trainers.

In their boat, they had an experimental device designed by the scientists at the Cinnabar Island lab, the so-called Pokémon Mansion. It resembled an automated pitching machine, and was meant to rapid-fire Pokéballs at Articuno until one succeeded in capturing the ice-bird.

"Can't we turn on a light?" complained one of the grunts. To avoid detection, they were relying only on the light of the stars and moon.

"No," replied the masked man. "We will know when we see it. A trail of ice follows that bird."

Silence fell on them. It was broken by the same grunt.

"But we don't even know where it's gonna appear from! These underground caverns are huge!"

Another grunt spoke up. "Oh, shut up. If we could track it here, we can find it again. Those legends mentioned all the places that it likes to roost."

The masked man agreed with this grunt, and said as much. "We have all sorts of secret bases lying around in Japan, and a covert presence in some other countries. As long as we stay on the underground, we'll be fine. Don't forget that before that brat ruined our Game Corner operation, we had been running it for… was it ten years?"

"I thought it was longer. Like, twenty or something," said a third grunt.

"It was running before I joined," added a fourth. "My first job was there. That was a few years ago, and the Game Corner had been running for a long time before then."

"That place had been passed around between all sorts of gangs before we claimed it," said the masked man, who was now carefully observing the ocean. It was rippling, and it looked as if a faint light was coming from a circular spot some distance from them. The grunts continued their conversation for a little bit longer, but the light eventually grew strong enough for their untrained eyes to notice.

"Is that it?" asked a grunt.

"Yes. Prepare the capture device!"

They began moving almost immediately. Articuno burst out from the ocean with a spray of water and ice droplets, glowing brightly under the starlight. It cried and began to fly away, but the grunts quickly sent out some Zubats and Golbats to pester it into staying. Articuno, as annoyed by the bats as any human was, froze them all with some choice Ice Beams and quickly froze itself as well. The ice-bird fell into the ocean, but the waves brought its frozen body back to the shore instead of out to sea. As soon as the masked man gave the order to capture the ice-bird, Red and company arrived on the scene.

* * *

><p>"Hold it right there!" yelled Red. He, Blaine and Sabrina had emerged from the underground to see a group of Rocket grunts, led by a masked man, ready to capture the Articuno. This masked man was different from the elusive Giovanni – this one had a white mask presenting a wicked black grin and slanted eye slits, and wore a black cloak that concealed his entire body except for his hands. Long black hair steamed behind this masked man.<p>

"Hm? Two Gym Leaders and a child? Is that all?" This masked man laughed. He brought out a Pokéball. "We don't have time for you. This Pokémon now belongs to Team Rocket!" He sent out a red and white Pokémon that resembled a penguin. "Delibird, Ice Beam!"

The Delibird cried out and fired a beam of ice crystals from its mouth. Sabrina teleported the three of them out of the beam's path. She then unleashed a blast of psychic power at the Rockets. Only the masked man and his Delibird stood their ground.

The masked man turned to his grunts. "What are you waiting for!? Two of you snag that Articuno; the rest need to join me!"

"YES, MASK OF ICE!" the grunts yelled in unison. There were eight of them in all, and six of them threw out all the Pokémon that they had – a mixture of Raticate, Marowak, Golbat, Arbok, Weezing and Machoke. Two of them dashed over to operate the capture device, and Red ran after them. Blaine and Sabrina sent out all their Pokémon and had them give Red some cover.

"Grunts!" barked the masked man. "Stall for time! I'll handle the brat! Delibird, Ice Beam!"

The masked man's Delibird fired another beam of ice, this time at Red. Red heard the initial blast and barely dodged the attack by diving into the sand. He scrambled to pull out a Pokéball, and tossed it out. "Go!"

Tesla came out, asleep.

"Tesla! Wake up!"

"~pikapi…~" Five more minutes…

Red sighed. The Mask of Ice laughed.

"Ha! Delibird, freeze that rodent!" The Delibird fired an Ice Beam at Tesla, and it hit him right in the face. The cold blast woke him up, and also knocked him into Red's arms.

"~PIKAPIKA!~" WHOA THAT'S COLD!

Tesla jumped out of Red's arms, small sparks jumping across his red cheeks.

"Tesla, this guy is with Team Rocket! If we don't stop them, they're gonna steal that Pokémon!" Red pointed at the still-frozen Articuno. The two unoccupied grunts were walking over to it with the capture device. "Alright! Use Thunderbolt!"

Tesla fired a lightning bolt from its cheeks that the Delibird sidestepped. The two traded attacks – Ice Beam against Thunderbolt – neither successfully hitting the other, until Tesla fired two at once. The Delibird dodged one Thunderbolt, but moved directly into the path of the second. It stumbled, but wasn't knocked out.

"Ha! It'll take more than that to beat me! Delibird, Double Team!"

"Tesla, you use Double Team too!"

Illusionary copies of the red-white penguin and yellow mouse arose from the beach. The Pikachus fired Thunderbolts at the Delibirds. The Delibirds retaliated with Ice Beams. The mask of Ice and Red occasionally had to dodge misfires from the battlefield, which was becoming obscured by sand and smoke. Ice and lightning periodically erupted from the cloud, along with the cries of mice and penguins.

In time, it grew silent. The smoke settled, and the Delibird was standing over an unconscious Tesla. Red recalled his partner. The Delibird cooed victoriously.

Red sent out Silph. She resisted Ice-type moves. "Silph, Ice Beam!" The Lapras cried out and fired an Ice Beam that the Delibird hopped away from. Annoyed, Silph fired a Confuse Ray at the Delibird, which hit the bird. The bird's vision started spinning, and it remained fixed in place while trying to re-orient itself. This time, the Lapras' Ice Beam hit the Delibird straight on.

It was knocked back towards the Mask of Ice, but wasn't out just yet. However, it was still confused, and stumbling around uselessly. The masked man yelled at his Pokémon to snap out of it, but his efforts were useless.

Red could see that the grunts had already started trying to catch Articuno, but it had yet to be caught. "Silph! Let's finish this with Surf!" He then jumped onto Silph's back and held on to her neck tightly.

"~lapras!~" You got it!

Silph's eyes began to glow a deep blue, and the waves ceased. The two grunts on capture duty watched as the frozen Articuno was dragged away from them into a still swell that was building and building. Guessing that this couldn't be good, they dropped the device and ran up the shore. They were still caught by the wave once Silph launched it at the masked man and his Delibird. The Mask of Ice could only stare at the wave as it bore down on them and swept them away.

When the water retreated, Red and Silph could see the grunts, masked man and Delibird all in a pile and knocked out. Silph cooed and nuzzled up to Red, as he patted her on the head.

"Good job, Silph!"

* * *

><p>Despite being outnumbered, Sabrina and Blaine didn't have too much difficulty handling the Rocket grunts. It was clear that, unlike the Mask of Ice, none of these trainers actually raised their Pokémon. They just commanded their creatures to do "something", and so the two Gym Leaders were able to simply sweep through all those Pokémon.<p>

Sabrina, her Alakazam, Blaine and his Rapidash watched as the Rockets left their defeated Pokémon behind and ran for their speedboat. They picked up the two unconscious grunts and their leader on the way. Silph growled at them as they fled.

"Should we let them run away like this?" asked Red.

"We are not," replied Sabrina, whose eyes were glowing blue. "It seems that they are headed to a secret base near Fuchsia City. Koga and his clan will be interested in this."

Her eyes returned to normal. "As for the ones they left behind, I'll take care of them. I can leave them by the police station."

Blaine laughed. "That'll be a sight! A boat stranded in the middle of a city! Hm! But if you're leaving, then I read a lift back to Cinnabar. Red, you don't mind giving me a ride, do you? You have to challenge me to a Gym match anyway."

Red didn't mind at all.

* * *

><p>Sometime after those three departed the Seafoam Islands – Sabrina for Fuchsia City, Red and Blaine for Cinnabar Island – the ice shell surrounding Articuno started to crack. With a single powerful motion, the Articuno spread its wings and shattered the ice that once protected it. It saw that the sun was rising, and knew that it should return to the underground. Yet, it was curious.<p>

It took flight, heading to Cinnabar Island, leaving behind a trail of shimmering ice crystals.


	13. The Construction of Mewtwo

Chapter 13 – The Construction of Mewtwo

The Pokémon Mansion – the birthplace of Mewtwo. That Pokémon was the pride of Team Rocket's scientists, born after years of hard work and careful study.

It was an unlikely birth from the start. All of them, especially Dr. Sakaki, had assumed that the Pokémon referred to in myths as Mew – the Mother of all Pokémon – could not possibly have existed. And yet, on an expedition to a faraway island, a group of them had found one. It appeared to them to be like an infant, yet they could not discern its true age. It went along with them willingly, even though Mew were rumored to be powerful psychics and therefore should have known their intentions. Even when their experiments on it must have caused it pain, it never cried out or shed a tear. Sometimes, it even laughed! The laugh of a cat, it laughed. Laughter they did not understand. Such a strange being, it was.

It was also called 'Myuu' in those old tales.

Mewtwo was born directly from that Mew. Although they referred to it as a clone, it was intended as an improvement. An upgrade to nature's capabilities. If Mew was truly the mother of all Pokémon, then it contained the genetic seeds for both the mighty Gyarados and the pitiful Magikarp. The useless parts of Mew only had to be excised, and they would have a combination of all the most powerful Pokémon in the world.

Unfortunately, such a DNA structure was unstable and broke apart despite their best efforts. 'Giovanni', sensing the impediment to his plans, gave them a new plan: rather than making Mewtwo the ultimate of everything, make it the ultimate of just one or two Pokémon types. After determining that Mew was indeed a Psychic-type, they decided that Mewtwo should be as well.

However, the structure was still unstable. It lacked enough genetic content to be viable. They filled it in with genes from other Pokémon (such as Ursaring and Machamp) and from their boss, and that combination led to the Mewtwo that was viable, and had been born.

The Mewtwo that was now agitated. It had been meditating in a sealed chamber to that they could measure its energy output during a relaxed state, but something had broken its calm. From the other side of a tempered glass pane, they could see his metabolism speed up and his brainwaves change in frequency. The chamber itself was sealed and soundproof, so the disturbance wasn't from the inside.

They had a microphone to communicate to the clone. One of them shouted, "Mewtwo! What's wrong!? You have to control your energy!"

A blue aura was now surrounding the clone, and they could feel radiant heat even from the other room. It was only growing stronger.

"Mewtwo! Stop!" That scientist turned to the others. "Turn on the dampers!"

Dampers were installed throughout the Mansion in order to restrain Mewtwo's immense psychic power. They had rarely needed to use them, but had needed them more and more after the Saffron incident. Four pylons rose around Mewtwo and began humming ominously. Using their instruments, the scientists could see that Mewtwo's psychic output had diminished.

So, they were shocked when Mewtwo's power output suddenly exploded. And then the chamber exploded, along with the pylons. The blast knocked the three scientists across the lab; two of them broke their necks and died on impact. The third had been impaled on something – he couldn't tell what, it was in his back – and found that he couldn't move his arms.

Mewtwo floated through the space that once held a tempered glass window.

"Ahhhhh… Mewtwo… Why?"

"_He is here. I must destroy him._"

At this point, the sprinkler system kicked on. The loud sirens warned the rest of the scientists to flee the building. But he could not escape…

"_But first, I must destroy this building. It is… incriminating._"

Mewtwo's eyes began to glow a deep blue.

* * *

><p>The seas were peaceful that morning. Red and Blaine had gone to sleep on Silph's back, and she was faithfully ferrying the two of them back to Cinnabar Island. They had pointed her in the right direction before going to sleep.<p>

Behind her, the sun was rising. It gave her enough light to see all the way to the island she thought was Cinnabar Island. Her trainer had told her to look for a blue-roofed or a red-roofed building, and she could see one far off in the distance. She didn't swim very quickly, so the two trainers still had time to rest.

She yawned. Well, if they were just going in a straight line, she didn't need to be awake for that right? A quick nap would…

Her train of thought was interrupted by a massive explosion from the west, from Cinnabar Island. She couldn't tell what had exploded through the dust cloud and fire. The noise from the blast reached them and woke up her trainer and their guest.

"Whoa!" cried out Red.

"I'll second that!" added Blaine. "What explodes like a volcano but isn't one? Even I don't know!" He paused for a moment. "Actually, that could have been the Pokémon Lab. They're still experimenting with our cloning technology! Bah! Our technique was already great!"

"Cloning technology?" asked Red.

"Yep! We're using it to resurrect ancient extinct Pokémon. You've been to Pewter City, so you should know about the fossils under Mt. Moon, yes?"

Red nodded.

"Good! Our lab figured out that those were Pokémon fossils by sequencing their DNA here! Well, what remained of those genes. We did our best to reconstruct the rest, and built a machine that could recreate those ancient Pokémon. We then exported it to the other regions."

Red thought for a moment. "Could that be used to make a new Pokémon?"

"Hm? I suppose so. But it would be quite difficult. Pokémon genomes are quite… complex."

Blaine didn't elaborate, and Red got the general idea. In the distance, they could see a blue light twinkling near the dust cloud. It was moving! Red sensed some ill intent from that light…

From the distance, they could see an array of small stars flying towards them. A Swift attack!

"Silph, use Surf!"

The Lapras cooed, and a wall of water rose up and absorbed all the Swift attacks. And that attack gave Red a good idea, one that he wished he had thought of earlier.

* * *

><p>Mewtwo watched from the cloudless skies as a wave swelled and rolled over to the Cinnabar Island shore, depositing Red, a Pokémon, and another human. He watched as Red recalled that Pokémon and dashed into the Pokémon Center. He watched as that other human dashed over to the still burning remains of the Pokémon Mansion.<p>

He slowly floated down to the sandy ground.

* * *

><p>By the time he had reached the ground, Red had emerged from the Pokémon Center. Mewtwo flared his psychic aura, grabbing Red's attention. The boy turned to face him.<p>

"So, it was you! What are you doing here?" The boy pulled out a Pokéball.

"_I live here_," replied the clone. "_Well, I once lived here. But! I will not develop true power here! Do you know how I live here? I am subordinate to the scientist's computer schemes and an endless number of simulations! I want to train in battle and grow stronger in my powers, but they just subject me to an infinite series of tests! I cannot stand that place any longer! So I destroyed it!_" The clone gestured to the ruins on the other side of Cinnabar Island, from which smoke was still rising.

Red gulped. That was some power this clone had.

"_I have not even faced another in battle since we last met! Therefore, I challenge you!_" Mewtwo didn't wait for Red to say yes or no, but immediately started tossing blasts on Psychic power at Red. He sent them in a tetrahedral shape, so that the boy could not move fast enough to dodge them all.

Red was knocked back into the ocean. He flailed about to keep his head above water. Then he saw another Psychic blast headed right for him, and dropped back into the shallows.

Mewtwo did not know why, but he felt an aversion to the ocean. So he didn't dive in after the boy. Instead, he gathered Psychic power to make a wave of his own. He focused it into a blue sphere, which he held above his head.

"_Come out!_"

The answer returned was just the sound of the ocean waves rolling.

"_Very well then! Take th-!_"

Mewtwo was interrupted by a bolt of lightning striking his back, catching him off guard and causing him to drop his Psychic attack, which then fell on his head and exploded. The blast knocked him straight into the ground.

"_Gah!_"

At the sound of another explosion, some townspeople began to look over at the spectacle of an unknown Pokémon by the beach. One of them was Bill, who was there to catch a boat ride from a friend.

"Wow! That's some Pokémon! Never seen one of those before! Who's trying to catch it?" He looked around for the source of the lightning, and found that it was a Pikachu. Standing behind that Pikachu was Red. "Hey! It's that kid again! What was his name…? Red! That's it! I'll just stand back and watch him go. That Pokémon looks awfully powerful though. I hope he has enough Pokéballs!"

Red could also see Bill among the gathering crowd, but ignored him for now. Mewtwo had recovered from that surprise attack, and staring them down, tail twitching violently. The clone didn't look nearly as damaged from that attack as Red hoped.

"_You insolent child! Are you afraid to face me head on?_" Mewtwo chuckled. "_Perhaps you are! You should be! I am the most powerful Pokémon to ever exist!_" Mewtwo brought out more of his power; the crowd wisely backed away. Tesla's cheeks sparked with static electricity.

"~pikapika!?~" What's our plan, Red!?

"Working on it!" Red was thinking. Mewtwo clearly was of the Psychic-type, but Red knew nothing other than that, because his PokéDex could not recognize the clone as a Pokémon. He didn't know if Mewtwo was a dual-type or not, what it's level was, or what moves it knew. The only way to find any of that out would be to catch the clone and find out another time.

Mewtwo send out another blast of psychic power. Tesla and Red jumped out of the way. Tesla fired a bolt of lightning at the clone, but Mewtwo knocked it away with another Psychic attack.

Red kept thinking. This was going nowhere fast. Mewtwo would just overpower them if they slipped up even once. They didn't have time for this! Each second they spent struggling here was a second more for Blue to reach the Indigo Plateau first.

"I don't have time to fight you here! I'm in a hurry!" Red yelled. He brought out two more Pokéballs and summoned Geselle and Silph. Silph fired Ice Beams, Geselle fired Swift stars and Tesla fired Thunderbolts at the clone, which flew between the attacks with efficient grace. The Swift stars stung a little, but were otherwise inconsequential.

The clone eventually grew tired of his dance, and blasted the three Pokémon with a massive Psychic attack. It knocked the trio out instantly. Red recalled them all, stunned by the clone's power. What could he do now? He could only rely on Rei's tricks, but that would only work once. He had to-.

While he was thinking, Mewtwo was talking and gathering power. "_Is that all you can do? I'm disappointed! In that case, BEGONE!_" Mewtwo launched a Psychic attack at Red, which knocked him away from the island, flying fast and screaming loud. The clone followed him.

The crowd stared, dumbstruck and unable to move, in awe at what they had witnessed. Between the explosion and the strange Pokémon, there was no telling what might be next!

* * *

><p>Articuno was still peacefully flying to Cinnabar Island when Red flew past it. The ice-bird blinked in mild confusion, wondering how the human had learned to fly. When it saw Red start to descend, it realized that Red couldn't actually fly. With a cry, it dove to Red and caught him on its back before he fell into the water.<p>

"Thanks for saving me," said Red. He patted the ice-bird on the head. It chirped happily.

Red pulled out his PokéDex and scanned the Articuno. This one was a strong Pokémon with dual Ice and Flying types, and it knew the following moves: Gust, Powder Snow, Agility and Ice Beam. He didn't know if it was strong enough to fight Mewtwo, but he needed to deal with the clone somehow and he had no other ideas.

"Hey! Articuno! I need your help!" Red explained the situation with Mewtwo as best he could. Articuno squawked an agreement to help the traveler, and they flew together towards Cinnabar.

* * *

><p>Mewtwo saw the duo flying back to Cinnabar as he was flying away from that island. He stopped, surprised. Where had the child summoned this new creature from? He hadn't seen anything like it before!<p>

However, it did not seem so strong. He smirked. This should not take too long. Once done defeating the child, he would be free to… to…

His smirk failed him. What was next after this? Defeat Sabrina, of course! But then? What comes after that? Surely there have to be more powerful foes somewhere in this universe! He would have to find them – seek them out and take them down!

But first, the child. "_I do not know where you acquired that bird from, but I will-!_" Mewtwo was interrupted by an Ice Beam striking him in the chest. It froze him into a floating block of ice. It was too thick to shatter using only his physical strength – he had to shatter it with psychic power. The clone then retaliated with psychic blasts that the Articuno gracefully dodged. At the same time, the ice-bird was using its Agility technique to increase its flying speed. It began circling Mewtwo, who put up a Barrier to defend himself.

Red commanded the ice-bird to use Powder Snow, and the bird blasted out many small snow beads from its wings. They battered Mewtwo's body around a circle, their Ice-type properties allowing them to ignore the Barrier technique. The clone used Recover to undo some of the damage, but he felt exhausted from it. The ice-bird ended the assault with a massive Gust of wind that knocked Mewtwo away.

While the clone recovered, the ice-bird continued its flight to Cinnabar, directed by Red. Mewtwo followed, struggling to keep up with Articuno's increased speed. The clone tried to slow Articuno down with Psychic blasts and Swift attacks, but the Articuno was able to dodge all of the psychic attacks and most of the swift stars.

The aerial battle continued as they reached Cinnabar once more. The crowd below watched as the ice-like bird and unknown Pokémon traded attacks. Bill watched intently, ready to call out his Alakazam if things went downhill. Blasts of ice, wind, stars and psychic power shook the skies above them.

Mewtwo prepared another Psychic blast, but found that he could no longer gather power. _No!_ the clone thought. _I've been using so much power that I hit my attack limit! And Swift isn't working, not with this bird's speed. Barrier is useless against its Ice-type moves. There isn't anything I can do anymore! This child couldn't beat me directly, so he forced me to exhaust myself!_

While thinking this, another Ice Beam struck and froze Mewtwo. The clone had to wait until it naturally thawed. He Recovered the damage. Fighting from here on was meaningless, he felt.

"_You! No… Red! You may have defeated me today, but I won't forget this loss! We will meet again someday, and then I will defeat you!_" With that, Mewtwo flew away to the north. The Articuno squawked victoriously, and Red sighed.

* * *

><p>Articuno brought Red back down to the ground, surrounded by the crowd of curious Cinnabar Island residents. The ice-bird shied away from the crowd's attempts to touch it, and it flew away in short order. Red thanked the bird as it departed; it responded with a song-like cry.<p>

Seeing that the spectacle was over, the crowd dispersed – many of them went over to the ruins of the Pokémon Mansion to help clear it out. Only one man stayed, one that Red recognized earlier.

"Bill! What are you doing here?"

"Howdy Red! Remember what I said earlier about using the teleporter to send Pokémon between regions?"

Red didn't, but nodded anyway.

"Well, I'm going to go meet Celio on One Island so we can work on his Pokémon Network Machine! It'll link up those islands to the mainland, and we're hoping to expand it to Hoenn as well! I don't suppose you know anyone in Hoenn, do you?"

Red shook his head. Not unless his dad was there. But his dad wasn't a trainer anymore.

"Oh… Drat! We need someone to test it with! Well, Celio and I have friends in Hoenn. We'll ask them. Say, would you like to see our machine and check out the Sevii Islands?"

"Right now?" asked Red. He was in the middle of something.

"Oh, not unless you want to. I'll be hopping back and forth between One Island and here to make sure the communications are working properly. Or not, as it is right now… I guess you're here to fight Blaine? I feel like it's been a long time since we last met, even though it hasn't actually been that long. And you've come so far in that time… Well, if you're busy, I ought to let you go. See you later! Oh, and take this ticket!"

With that, Bill departed for the Pokémon Lab. Red went into the Pokémon Center.

* * *

><p>The Pokémon Mansion – a ruined shell of its former self. All that was left was a crater and its smoldering and smoking remains, which were scattered across the glassified sand. Broken lab equipment was littered on the ground. The roof was utterly disintegrated, and was currently floating away as smoke. Most of the scientists could not be recovered.<p>

Blaine felt that the few that survived had a lot of explaining to do. After they recovered, of course. Honestly! Creating life and expecting it not to rebel! How irresponsible!

He had learned that the researchers in this lab were the ones responsible for creating and releasing that beastly Pokémon that attacked Red. But Red managed to chase it off with that Articuno they met earlier, so things should work out fine. Except for the dead ones, of course. He, some firefighters, his gym trainers, and some other first responders were surveying the ruins, looking for remains to identify and bury. Or lives to save – that would be much better.

Hours later, Red re-appeared. Blaine yawned. "Hey kid. Good job out there."

Red nodded. "I-"

Blaine interrupted him. "I need to be honest kid, I need to stay here. This has turned into quite a mess! And guess who has to clean up a mess he didn't cause! So! Can you come by the Gym tomorrow?"

Red nodded again.

Blaine smiled. "Excellent! You better bring some Burn Heals!"

* * *

><p>Red, remembering what Blaine said about resurrecting ancient Pokémon, went over to the Pokémon Lab. After wandering around the lab for several minutes, wondering who to talk to in order to revive his Helix fossil, he was stopped by a short-tempered man who demanded that he leave the Lab. Nobody was allowed to walk around the Lab without an escort, due to all the valuable and secret projects they had inside the building.<p>

Red explained what he was doing there and showed the man his Helix fossil. The man then calmed down and introduced himself as Dr. Erai, the man in charge of running the cloning machines. He took the fossil from Red and told him to return in a few hours.

Red left and began training Silph and K2 to take on Blaine's team. He returned to the Lab in the night and retrieved an Omanyte from Dr. Erai. He sent it to Oak's Lab for them to study it.

* * *

><p>On the next day, the Cinnabar Island Gym was open as promised. Red stepped through the doors and entered a plainly adorned chamber, holding only the statues that every Gym had and the blue-shirted man. That man waved to Red.<p>

"Yo! Champ in the making! After dealing with that strong Pokémon yesterday, I bet you're feeling ready to beat Blaine, right?"

Red nodded.

"Alright! We're almost done! Blaine's a pro with Fire Pokémon! Douse him with water or bury him under dirt and rocks! Good luck!"

Red went on into the first chamber. There was a man with soot-covered clothes and a sack waiting there with a machine in the background. "Hey, kid! You want to get past here, you can either battle me or answer my question! Which do you choose?"

"What's the question?"

"Here it is: Does Caterpie evolve into Metapod?"

Red pulled out his PokéDex and used it to get the right answer.

"Ooh, I wish I had one of those… I'll take it! Growlithe, go!" The man sent out his Growlithe and sent him at Red. Red called out K2, and the Graveler stopped the Growlithe in its tracks with a Rollout attack. The living rock roared and stared down the burglar, who backed off.

Red went into the next room and answered that question right. And so it went until Red passed through the eighth passageway and entered Blaine's chamber. It differed from the others by having two machines instead of one, and also being much larger. The old man laughed when he saw Red arrive.

"Hahaha! Did you enjoy my quiz? That's a nice break from the other Gyms, isn't it? Anyway, all of my Pokémon are ready to bring out an intense heat! We incinerate all challengers! Let's go!" Blaine started with a Growlithe. Red sent K2 back out.

"A Rock-type? I don't think so! Growlithe, Roar!"

The Growlithe roared like a beast many times its size. K2, who normally would relish the challenge of such a beast, instead turned and ran away. Red sent out Silph, but the Lapras was also Roared out of battle, cowering in place. Red recalled her.

He sent out Tesla. A quick and critical Thunderbolt took out the Growlithe. Blaine sent out its evolution, Arcanine, and commanded it to use Fire Blast. Tesla jumped out of the way of the massive fire kanji and used Double Team to become more evasive. As the Arcanine belched out Fire Blasts, racing around the chamber to catch up with the Pikachus, the real Pikachu slowed it down with a Thunder Wave. The electric pulse paralyzed the Arcanine's leg muscles, and it tumbled over. While down, several of the Pikachus blasted it with Thunderbolt, and the combined power knocked the Arcanine out.

"Hm! Not bad! Ponyta, go! Fire Spin!" Blaine recalled his downed Arcanine and sent out his Ponyta. It neighed, the fire on its neck tail burning brightly, and ran around in a circle, creating a great circular blaze. None of the Pikachus could escape, and they all dissipated from the heat. Tesla ran into the center of the circle to avoid the heat.

"There! Fire Blast, now!"

"Tesla, look out!"

The Pikachu couldn't dodge in time, and was struck by the flame. Disoriented by the fire and heat, Tesla was also Stomped on by the small horse. That knocked him out, and Red recalled him. At that point, K2 ran back into the chamber, roaring.

"K2, use-!"

The Graveler ignored Red and struck the ground mightily with both hands, launching him into the air. When he landed, the room shook as if an Earthquake had struck it. Shock waves emanated from where K2 landed, and the waves knocked the Ponyta over, carried it over and slammed it into the wall, knocking it out.

"Nice one, K2!" Red cheered. Now was a good time for K2 to learn Earthquake, one of the most powerful Ground-type moves.

Blaine frowned, recalled his Ponyta and sent out his Rapidash. "Fire Blast!"

"K2, use Rollout!"

The Graveler roared, curled into a ball, and launched himself at the Rapidash. The fire-horse Pokémon fired a great fire character at the Graveler, but K2 simply barreled through it. The Rapidash, startled, ran away from K2, and its superior speed ensured that K2 couldn't catch up to it. K2 uncurled, and was promptly struck in the face by a Fire Blast. He roared in rage and pain.

"K2, Earthquake again!"

"Rapidash, Bounce away from it!"

K2 fired off another Earthquake, but the Rapidash gracefully leaped over the shockwaves. It struck K2 with its hooves, not doing much damage, but also not taking any damage.

However, Blaine didn't expect Red to launch another Earthquake immediately after his attack, and this one knocked out his Rapidash just as easily as it did his Ponyta.

"Gah! I've been burned down to nothing! Not even ashes are left! Rapidash, return!" Blaine recalled his fainted Rapidash; Red congratulated K2 and then recalled the Graveler. Blaine walked up to Red and handed him a red CD in a clear case, and fire-shaped badge – the Volcano Badge!

"This badge gives off a special radio signal that boosts Special stats. And this TM holds the ultimate Fire-type technique – Fire Blast! What won't burn if you use this on it?"

Red answered, "A Water-type!"

Blaine nodded.

* * *

><p>To the west of Pallet Town lies the mountain ridge that divides Kanto and Johto, the impassable range for those who are not skilled Pokémon trainers. Within that range lays a bleak and perilous path cut through a cavern, a path meant to test all those trainers who would dare to enter it. To those trainers who thought themselves powerful and worthy of honor, the confounding cavern was placed as way to humble them and turn back those who were not truly as powerful as they claimed. Such a trialing cavern was this, the long walk carved out of a mountain by a prior generation of the Elite Four. Such a place of power was this, the place now called Victory Road. It was called this despite not being a road at all, and called such because that was demanded of all those who entered – either you must defeat this deadly path, or you will never reach the Elite!<p>

Blue had stepped out of that cavern, and was walking to reach the Elite ones. Perhaps to defeat them? No! Certainly to defeat them! He could not leave there and return to Pallet Town with anything less than total victory! After all, he had to rub his Champion status in Red's face!

Blue smirked and passed through the gates to the Indigo Plateau.

* * *

><p>Porygon were used by researchers in Kanto to communicate with each other wirelessly, and could transmit data between each other much in the same way that computers did using the Internet. The researchers in the Pokémon Mansion had recently upgraded some of their Porygon to transmit and store video, a feature Dr. Sakaki was now grateful for. He was not glad to have lost the Pokémon Mansion, but at least he didn't have to wait for news of it to disseminate through the media to reach him.<p>

Mewtwo's loss was tragic. The Articuno had not been captured. His plan was falling apart piece by piece. After what had happened on Cinnabar, no one would want to take on a similar project. They had recently acquired prototype Master Balls from Silph Co. – at least that plan wasn't a complete wash! – but they had no idea where Mewtwo could have gone. The clone knew nothing of the world, but hadn't been sighted near any of their secret bases.

He sighed. He was not in character as 'Giovanni', but was Dr. Sakaki now, at his office in the Viridian Research Center. His window gave him a wide view of Viridian City, and he could see his gym from there. The Gym he had resurrected himself, as a part of his cover. His plan!

Dr. Sakaki could see that his plan was dying. Team Rocket was dying, thanks to a child!

Maybe it would be better if he killed off Team Rocket himself.


	14. Fracture

Chapter 14 – Fracture

Red didn't expect there to be many trainers on the sea route between Cinnabar Island and Pallet Town, given that neither place was a focal point for strong trainers. Despite its Gym, Cinnabar's focus was more on research, and Pallet was dominated by Prof. Oak's Lab. But he didn't know what to expect at all from his next gym battle, because the Viridian City Gym Leader was often absent.

So he spent the first day after defeating Blaine in intense training at the Seafoam Islands. The curious Articuno occasionally wandered by and watched the fights, but never wanted to join in.

After a good night's rest, he flew on Kikka's back to Viridian City.

* * *

><p>Viridian City wasn't any different from the last time Red was there. It was the same small city surrounded by forests to all sides except the west, where the trees grew scarce and the land rose. He ran up the hill to the Viridian Gym, hoping that it would be open, but found it locked. The boy sighed, and wondered when the Gym Leader would return. He knew that the Gym Leader of this city was often absent for long stretches for unknown reasons. There wasn't anything he could do to make that person appear any sooner.<p>

Red walked away from the Gym. He had only taken seven steps when he heard the door open.

"What? Are you here for a match? I'm leaving to eat lunch, so…"

Dr. Sakaki paused upon seeing his challenger. So soon? But he had to maintain a cover, a cover which had never seen this child before.

"And what is another child doing here? Honestly! Letting the young run around the country with no supervision! This is pure insanity! I should turn you away and send you home right now!"

He could see that Red had backed off, scared. Good! He had something he could use.

"However, I suppose you already have seven badges, so I might as well allow you to challenge me. But first, I must eat. Follow me."

Dr. Sakaki started jogging down the hill. Red followed him, confused yet curious.

* * *

><p>Dr. Sakaki stopped at a food cart. He and Red ordered box lunches from the cart and sat down at a nearby table to eat. Red hurried marched through his food, while the Earth Doctor ate slowly. He was used to eating alone in one of his offices, and would have remained silent. Yet while he had the chance, he decided to take it and interrogate the child.<p>

"Boy, why are you doing this? You should be in school!"

The boy said that he was "homeschooled", if this inexact term was appropriate. He was from Pallet Town and learned from the researchers working at Prof. Oak's Lab, and sometimes even from the old man himself. Blue, the child that had defeated Dr. Sakaki a few days ago, was also a pupil of the laboratory.

Dr. Sakaki knew Prof. Oak – the old man had been one of his teachers once – and knew that the two children would have learned things about Pokémon that most children would not know. The public schools taught only general things related to Pokémon, and the system that revolved around them – the names of Pokémon, the types of them, the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, items, and so on. But only schools devoted to Pokémon studies would go into the details of battling strategies, Pokémon zoology, and other deep topics, and one couldn't get into those schools until one had completed at least middle school. Red was at least four years too early to be as skilled as he was, and the same went for Blue.

This bothered Dr. Sakaki.

"Yes, but still! Are you not at all concerned for the country's future? If it weren't for advances in the various Pokémon industries, our economy would still be stagnant! Trainers merely use the products of this progress; most of them don't give back. You are clearly an intelligent child – along with your friend – and you both belong in school, learning about useful things and cultivating your understanding of our country and world. We could use more children like you."

The boy didn't respond.

"Come on now. You should know that we have enough skilled trainers in this country already."

The boy shook his head, and said that if that was true, then they should have a regional Champion as the head of the Elite Four. He also mentioned the Viridian Gym, which – until the Earth Doctor stepped in – was dormant.

Ah! So then, this was about the Championship! The two boys wanted that spot! That was a simple enough motivation to understand. The boys were in a competition, and were just plowing through anything in their way. Team Rocket just happened to be in that 'anything'. But his plan was to crush the Elite Four, so it was inevitable that they would cross paths eventually.

"The Championship? Bah! That's a meaningless title. There's no true strongest trainer anyway due to all the differences between Pokémon – even of the same species! And considering all the teams one can devise, and all the Pokémon across this country, and even the world… When one strong trainer is born, another will eventually come and surpass them. That's what I think." His plan was counting on it.

The boy said that he didn't care. He'd just train again and surpass whoever just surpassed him.

Dr. Sakaki's eye twitched. He resisted the urge to vomit up the meal he just finished. Such naivety! Youth! Foolishness! As if life was that simple!

"Very well then! If you will persist in this folly, then I may as well humor you. Let us return to the Gym." The doctor walked back to the gym, followed by the still-confused boy.

What was this guy's problem?

* * *

><p>The Viridian Gym was built as a maze with earthen walls, in a similar style as Koga's gym. However, Dr. Sakaki also installed transporter tiles to force challengers down certain paths so that the junior trainers could wear them down. Of course, there was a path to reach him that didn't require stepping on any transporter tiles. He resided in the back of the gym, in the left corner.<p>

In this case, however, that wasn't going to satisfy him. He wanted to Red to suffer.

And so, he summoned his eight junior trainers to the front of the gym. A blue-shirted man was also there, watching the battle. That man went over to Red and gave him a pep talk. When that was done, Dr. Sakaki explained his altered challenge format to Red – the boy had to defeat his eight junior trainers first, and then he could challenge the Earth Doctor for an Earth Badge. The boy agreed, so Dr. Sakaki sent out one of his trainers.

A Tamer stepped forward. "My name is Cole! Get ready to lose!"

Cole sent out an Arbok. Red sent out Geselle. A single blast of Psychic was enough to knock out the poisonous snake. The tamer then sent out a Tauros, and Red couldn't help but wonder if this gym's junior trainers mostly didn't train Ground-type Pokémon. Geselle blasted the bull-like Pokémon with another Psychic blast, and then Bit it while it is disoriented. The two hit combination knocked it out.

Cole backed off, and a Black Belt stepped forward. "Hm! I am Kiyo! Prepare yourself!"

Kiyo sent out a Machoke. A Psychic blast dispatched it in one go.

Kiyo backed off, and another Tamer stepped forward. "Jason's the name! Go, my Rhyhorn!"

Jason sent out a Rhyhorn, as promised. Red recalled Geselle and brought out Silph. One Ice Beam equaled knocked out, stone cold Rhyhorn.

Jason backed off, and another Black Belt stepped forward. "I am Atsushi. You will fall."

Atsushi sent out a Machop. Red recalled Silph and sent out Kikka. A single hit of Fly took out the Machop, which was then replaced with a Machoke. Kikka's Flying dive wasn't enough to knock out the Machoke in one hit, and the Machoke countered with a powerful Revenge blow. It tried to follow that up with a Karate Chop, but Kikka recovered too quickly and knocked it out with a Wing Attack.

Atsushi backed off, and a Cooltrainer stepped forward. "I'm Samuel! I'll take you down!"

Samuel sent out a Sandslash. Red recalled Kikka and sent Silph back out. One Ice Beam knocked the Sandslash out, and the Sandslash that followed met the same fate. Samuel then sent out a Nidorino, prompting Red to recall Silph and sent Geselle back into the match. A Psychic attack defeated the Nidorino. Samuel sent out a Rhyhorn; Red sent out K2. K2 punched the ground, generating a massive Earthquake that toppled the Rhyhorn. The same fate was met by the Nidoking that followed.

Samuel backed off, and another Black Belt stepped forward. "I am Takashi." He nodded.

Takashi sent out a Machop. Red recalled K2 and sent out Kikka. Kikka shrieked loudly and struck the Machop hard across the chest with a Wing Attack, knocking it out in one go. Takashi sent out a Machoke. Kikka struck it with another Wing Attack, but the muscled Pokémon survived the blow. It countered with a Revenge attack that knocked out Kikka. Red recalled the bird and sent out Rei; the Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo defeated the Machoke. Takashi followed that up with another Machoke, which fell to the same tactic.

Takashi backed off, and another Cooltrainer stepped forward. "I'm Yuji! I'm gonna beat you!"

Yuji sent out a Sandslash. Red recalled Rei and sent out Silph. Ice Beam froze over the Sandslash. The Cooltrainer tried two Gravelers, and Onix, and a Marowak next; they were all defeated by the frosty energy beams.

Yuji backed off, and another Cooltrainer stepped forward. "I'm Warren, the last one! Let's go!"

Warren sent out a Rhyhorn, which Silph promptly KO'd with an Ice Beam without any prompting from Red. The Cooltrainer sent out a Nidorina, so Red recalled Silph and sent out Geselle. Geselle defeated the Nidorina with a single Psychic attack. Warren's Nidoqueen also fell to the sun-cat's psychic powers; The Cooltrainer's two Marowaks were defeated by Silph's Ice Beam.

Warren backed off.

"Hm. Well, then!" That was not what Dr. Sakaki wanted to happen. "You are truly skilled! So I won't hold back! You will see why I am the strongest Gym Leader!"

The Earth Doctor stepped forward, and all of his junior trainers backed away to watch. He pulled out a Pokéball and summoned a Rhyhorn. Red kept Silph out. Dr. Sakaki ordered the Rhyhorn to use Rock Blast on Silph, but she destroyed each rock with an Ice Beam and then blasted the Rhyhorn. It fell in one hit.

"No! Go, Dugtrio!"

"Silph, return! Go, Rei!"

Dr. Sakaki noticed that his Dugtrio couldn't harm the levitating ghost and recalled it. He sent out his other Rhyhorn, which was then given a one-way pass into the realm of sleep by Rei's Hypnosis. Rei ate the sleeping rock-rhino's dreams, and it immediately woke up. Enraged, it stomped the ground and spat out a spray of hard rocks at Rei – a Rock Blast attack. The rocks pelted Rei harshly, and particularly large one struck her face, knocking her out.

Dr. Sakaki smirked. "I hope you weren't expecting this to be easy!" He laughed.

Red scowled and sent Silph out. Silph knocked the Rhyhorn out with a Hydro Pump.

Dr. Sakaki sent his Dugtrio back out. It Slashed at Silph, but that wasn't enough to make her faint. She countered with a Hydro Pump, which was quite enough for the Dugtrio.

It was Dr. Sakaki's turn to scowl. This child! Like the one before, he was simply too skilled at using type advantages for his advantage. This was proof that he needed stronger Pokémon, and to not be limited by the requirements of the Pokémon League. Yet, running tis gym was an excellent cover, in addition to his research on Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon. But perhaps this cover was running its course.

Yes! This child would certainly interfere with Team Rocket's attempts to acquire the legendary birds. But if he were to go by himself… and even to other regions in Japan… He had an excuse.

Dr. Sakaki sent out his Nidoqueen. He may as well let this farce end. "Queen! Double Kick!"

The Nidoqueen roared and dashed at Silph, dodging the Hydro Pump that the Lapras fired at her. The Nidoqueen lunged and kicked Silph with both feet at the same time, flipping Silph over. The Lapras cried out as the Nidoqueen kept kicking her defenseless self.

Red recalled her and sent out Geselle. Geselle blasted the queen Pokémon with Psychic and Swift. The two-hit combo knocked her out. Dr. Sakaki followed that up with a Nidoking, but a single Psychic was enough to knock it out.

"WHAT! I've lost!?" yelled the Earth Doctor. He was more surprised by how abruptly the battle ended than by his loss. Well, that's what he should have expected for following the type rules.

Red cheered. Geselle sauntered off the battlefield and over to her trainer, who stroked her fur gently. "Thanks, Geselle! Good job!"

"Hm… that was an intense fight! You have won… so take this! The Earth Badge!" Dr. Sakaki pulled an Earth Badge from one of his pockets – a plant-shaped green badge that concealed the true nature of the Viridian Gym. Red took it from the Earth Doctor. Dr. Sakaki also handed him a tan CD in a clear case.

"The Earth Badge shows your mastery of Pokémon Training. With this badge, you can challenge the Pokémon League all you like. Consider this Technical Machine… a gift. For your challenge. It can teach a Pokémon the move Earthquake."

Red put up the TM and recalled Geselle. "Thanks, sir! I won't forget it!" He then dashed away.

Dr. Sakaki dismissed all his junior trainers.

"As for myself… I believe I will return to my training. This Gym is through! Losing to these children has left a bad taste in my mouth. And how am I supposed to face my followers in Team Rocket like this? I cannot! Team Rocket is through! My followers will just return to the gangs from whence they came, or return to their normal lives… but I will not give up just yet! I'll scour Japan for the rarest and strongest Pokémon! I shall create the strongest team and be the strongest trainer! Japan will belong to me, and Team Rocket will rule over this nation's Pokémon!"

He swore that to himself. Team Rocket was dead now, but would rise again.

His cellphone buzzed. "I thought I told you not to call this number! Anyway, I have something to… WHAT!? What do you mean it escaped? It's headed here!? How could you let this happen!? … Yes, I'm sure you're sorry. Go catch it then! No one needs to find out about this!"

He hung up and sighed. He also wasn't using his followers properly. But that no longer mattered.

"Anyway, I want you to listen carefully! I have something very important to say…"

* * *

><p>Red immediately dashed over to the Pokémon Center and healed his Pokémon. His next destination was set. With eight badges, he could pass through the eight gates on Route 23 that led up to Victory Road. And then, he just had to pass through Victory Road! And then challenge the Elite Four! And then defeat them! He would be the new Champion!<p>

He was grinning wildly as he ran up Route 22 towards to the gate station that partitioned it from Route 23 – the road to the Indigo Plateau. It wouldn't be much longer until…

"HEY! Well, look who it is!"

Red stopped in his tracks. Blue had just crashed out of the gate station, riding an Arcanine, and was running towards him. He must want another battle. _Well, I'll just have to disappoint him._

Blue stopped his Arcanine a short distance away from Red. Red could see that Blue's clothes were covered in dirt stains and torn in places. "Red! You finally heading to the Pokémon League? Took you long enough, you Slowpoke! You just get your eighth badge?"

Red nodded. "I'm gonna be the new Champion! Out of the way, Blue!"

Blue laughed. "Ha! I've got news for you, Red. I already stomped the Elite Four!"

"WHAT!?" No way! Blue had reached the Championship already!?

Blue nodded. "Yep! I'm the new Champion!" He stuck his tongue out at Red. "Better go back home!"

Red shook his head. "No way! Not until I've beaten the Elite Four! And you! I challenge you for your Champion status!" Red pulled out a Pokéball and brought out Silph.

"What, really?" Blue was a little surprised by Red's eagerness to battle. Normally, he had to goad Red into a Pokémon match. _Well, I guess being the Champion is enough of a taunt, without needing to do anything else!_

Blue smirked coolly. "Let's go, Red! Arcanine, Flamethrower!"

"Silph, Hydro Pump!"

The fire and water streams met between the two Pokémon, and exploded in a burst of steam. Blue's Arcanine used the steam as a cover to strike Silph with an Extremespeed; she countered with Surf, knocking the canine over with a small wave.

"Arcanine, return! Go, Exeggcutor! Use Sleep Powder!"

Blue sent out a Pokémon that looked like a coconut tree with legs. Instead of coconuts, it bore egg-shaped heads. It closed its eyes, breathed in deeply, and released a green powder from its many mouths. Silph breathed in the powder and fell asleep. Red held a napkin to his face so that he didn't also breathe it in. Blue commanded his Exeggcutor to charge up a Solarbeam. Its leaves began to glow as it gathered power.

Red recalled Silph and sent out Kikka. Kikka flew up, avoiding the Solarbeam, and flew into the Exeggcutor, striking it with his wings. He followed that up with a Wing Attack, but was then shoved away by the Strength-wielding Exeggcutor.

"Kikka, Fly!"

"Exeggcutor, another Solarbeam!"

The two Pokémon prepared their attacks and fired as one, Kikka attempting to fly straight through and break the Solarbeam. He failed, and the solar power overwhelmed him, knocking him out. He crashed into a rock wall.

"No! Kikka, return! Go, Rei!"

Red sent out his faithful ghost. She put the Exeggcutor to sleep with Hypnosis and defeated it with a double shot of Shadow Ball.

Blue sent out his faithful Umbreon. Red recalled Rei and sent out Tesla.

"You still haven't evolved that Pikachu yet? This'll be easy! Umbreon, use Faint Attack!"

"Tesla, use-!"

Red and Tesla blinked, and the Umbreon as gone. They looked around for it.

"What!? Where did it…?"

"~PI!~" [GAH!]

The Umbreon had re-appeared behind Tesla, and aggressively clawed the Pikachu's back. One blow was enough to knock Tesla out.

"~um! breon!~" [Ha! Got ya!]

"No! Tesla, return!" Red didn't have anything that could counter a Dark-type Pokémon. And not such a strong one! This must be the power of a Champion! The power a trainer needs to defeat the Elite Four. Red didn't have that kind of power yet.

Blue could see Red's distress, and laughed. "Ha! Looks like you need some more training!" His Umbreon laughed along with him. Red fumed, embarrassed.

Another trainer chose that moment to appear. "And what, exactly, is this?" The man who spoke had spiky red hair, and wore a black-and-red outfit with a black cape. He was sitting on the back of an Aerodactyl, hovering above the ground. His Aerodactyl squawked.

"Lance!" yelled the two boys at the same time.

Indeed, it was the head of the Elite Four sitting on the ancient rock-bird. The Aerodactyl gently lowered Lance to the ground, and he dismounted.

"Blue! You're not supposed to be taking challenges right now! Red! What do you think you're doing? You know you have to defeat the regional champion the proper way!"

The two kids apologized to Lance.

Lance nodded. "It's good that you can admit your mistakes. Blue, we need to talk about how the Championship works. Since Red came to challenge the Indigo League, I suppose he can listen as well. The Kanto-Johto Elite Four and Champion convene on the Indigo Plateau for only one week out of every three months. During that week, we shall take as many challengers as possible until either seven days pass or the Champion – meaning you – is defeated. We had a few days left in this session, but because you've defeated us already, I hereby declare it over! I'll send out a message to the media about our new Champion as well."

Blue beamed. Red gave him a good glare, not that Blue cared.

"In this season of summer, Kanto now has a Champion! Not until the dawn of autumn shall the five elite trainers meet again. I will be returning to Blackthorn City. Agatha and Bruno tend to wander around; Lorelei will go back to her home in the Sevii Islands. Blue, where will you go?"

Blue thought about that for a moment. "Well, I haven't been to the Sevii Islands yet. Guess I'll check those out!"

"Excellent! Make sure you're back here on the 23rd of September!" Lance re-mounted his Aerodactyl. "I should be off. I'm expecting good news from home. Fare-!"

SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!

Lance was interrupted by a loud, angry cry coming from the sky. In the distance, they could see a spiky yellow shape floating over Viridian City. It gave off bursts of lightning, followed by roars of faint thunder, roars that were steadily growing louder.

Lance gasped. "It can't be! A Zapdos!"

"A what?" asked both Blue and Red.

"The Titan of Lightning! A legendary Pokémon with great power over electricity! But what's it doing here? Hm… I must investigate this! Blue, Red, stay here!"

Lance flew toward Viridian City on his Aerodactyl. Blue and Red followed on foot.

* * *

><p>Flying over the confused and frightened citizens of Viridian City was the enraged thunderbird – Zapdos. It had once been a guest of the Power Plant just south of Route 10, but strange humans dressed in black attacked it with their Pokémon. It drove them away with its mighty electric power, and flew to find shelter somewhere else.<p>

However, it was not expecting those humans to have built nests next to its own. The Zapdos had flown from the Power Plant to Mt. Moon, but found them there. It flew south to the Viridian Forest, but found them there. There, the humans attacked it again and chased it to the south.

The thunderbird exploded with electric power each time its adversaries drew near.

* * *

><p>Dr. Sakaki evacuated his Gym once he heard the thunder explode on a clear day. The Zapdos was being attacked with Koffing and Golbat as far as he could tell – he could only see circles giving off smoke and a vaguely bat-shaped shadow next to the bright yellow lightning generator. It was keeping away from them easily, using its Agility technique to evade the poisonous smoke.<p>

They were also too high in the air for him to do anything with his Pokémon. Too bad he had lost Mewtwo; the clone would be perfect for this! He cursed the foolishness of his subordinates, and then his own. This was whole mess came about from his desires.

Another bird-cry rang out, coming from the West. Dr. Sakaki recognized as that of an Aerodactyl, of which there was only one in Kanto – Lance's. Sure enough, he could see the blob shaped vaguely like one in the sky. _Good. Lance should be able to handle this._

He was never expecting to use the titan's raw strength, which he expected to be inferior to the Elite Four's honed skills. Augmentation would have been the key.

"Hey! Doc!"

"Doctor!"

_Oh not now._

Dr. Sakaki turned to those two voices and saw two of the three children that had stomped his plans into a fine paste – Red and Blue. They stopped, hunched over, panting, out of breath.

"And what do you want, children? Dealing with powerful Pokémon is a grown-up matter. You ought to keep out or you'll experience a world of pain. Look! Lance is clearing this up already."

Sure enough, the three of them looked up and saw Lance's Aerodactyl attacking the Pokémon swarming the Zapdos. Seeing that the Aerodactyl was an ally, the Zapdos switched from evasion to offense, zapping all the Golbat with a Thundershock and striking at the Koffing with Drill Peck. When all the Rocket Pokémon were defeated, the Zapdos shrieked in triumph and flew away, back to the north.

Lance came down from the sky, once more.

"Seems like it was being attacked by Koffing and Golbat. I suspect Team Rocket is involved…"

Blue raised an eyebrow. Red frowned. Dr. Sakaki looked annoyed.

"Team Rocket! Not those hooligans again! I've had enough of their antics!" yelled the Earth Doctor. "How am I supposed to run a Gym under these conditions? I am a busy man! I don't have time to deal with those fools and run a Gym and do my research!"

He calmed down.

"So, I am resigning from my post as Gym Leader. I need to focus on certain things."

Lance frowned. "I see. That's unfortunate, but I wish you well on whatever you do next. I'll take care of the Gym later. Now, I must be off! Farewell!" He flew away, to the west.

Dr. Sakaki walked away in a huff, muttering to himself. Red still didn't get what that guy's problem was.

Blue and Red looked at each other.

"Well, I've got something better to do now! If Team Rocket wanted that Pokémon, it must be pretty strong! I'm going after it! Smell ya later, Red!"

Blue released his Arcanine, hopped on it and rode off to the north.

Red reached in his bag and pulled out the ticket Bill gave him.

Well, he didn't have anything better to do now.


	15. Trio

Chapter 15 – Trio

"Here we are! One Island! It's also called Knot Island."

Bill and Red stepped onto the dock and gazed northwards to take in the full range of Knot Island. In front of them was small village; its largest building was a Pokémon Center with an orange roof instead of the usual red roof. The village was at the foot of a tall rocky mountain, and they could see another mountain – rather, a volcano – in the distance. There wasn't much to say about the village – there were a few homes and some small farms, but Red didn't see any wild Pokémon wandering around. When he brought that up, Bill said that all the wild Pokémon were on Kindle Road and Mt. Ember, to the east of town.

"But before you go looking for Pokémon, I need you to do me a favor. Also, you really should meet Celio! Follow me!"

Bill led Red into the "Pokémon Center". According to Bill, it was actually a Pokémon Net Center, or PNC. Red didn't get what the difference was – until he stepped inside and saw the Network Machine.

"She's quite something, isn't she?"

"Whoa…"

The Network Machine was a large supercomputer that looked like it belonged in one of the National Universities, or the Pokémon Lab on Cinnabar Island, not a small remote island. It took up at least a third of the space of the PNC. It was partially built into the back wall, and was as tall as the PNC. It had only one monitor and keyboard, although the keyboard was almost a meter wide and the monitor was half that.

In front of the terminal – typing slowly and deliberately – was a man with short brown hair that had streaks of moss green in it. When Bill called to him, Red learned that this was Celio. He also wore glasses and was dressed conservatively.

"Bill! You're back! Bad news – I'm getting more errors. I haven't seen some of these before."

"Still?" asked Bill. "I thought the patch I made would take care of those for now. We haven't made any progress on this thing for a month!"

"It did – for a little while. I contacted Lanette in Hoenn and tried to connect with her, but it froze after initiating the contact. And then the screen turned blue and started printing out gibberish."

Bill sighed. "Well, that's progress for you – sometimes it isn't."

Red was fidgeting, eager to get going. He knew he had three months to train, but they would pass in a hurry if he didn't get out there!

Bill turned to Red. "Sorry, Red! I thought I'd have something super cool to show you, but I guess not. I'll let you go. Can you do me a favor though?"

Red nodded.

Bill walked to one of the panels on the Network Machine, opened it, and pulled out a rock. It was a very nice looking rock, shining black in places. Patches of it had an odd color that was hard to describe – they seemed to be both a mixture of colors and pure bright orange at the same time.

He handed it to Red.

"That's a meteorite. One of my friends from Two Island studies them. Can you take it to him? If you can't find him, go to the Game Corner and ask for the owner. The two of them are friends."

"Leave it to me!" Red took the meteorite, stuffed it somehow into his backpack, and dashed off – back to the pier. Bill and Celio looked at each other.

"Now then, show me exactly what you did…"

* * *

><p>Red had to take the ferry in order to get to Two Island. He could have ridden Silph to get there, but he didn't know where exactly he was going. The ferry dropped him off on a pier next to another small village. The village had only a few houses, a Pokémon center, and several stands connected together in what looked like an open-air market. This island had two hills instead of mountains, and a house was at the top of each. One house was next to a waterfall and lake; the other was attached to an observatory.<p>

Red guessed that whoever lived in the house with the observatory probably was the one who studied meteorites. But he couldn't see a path to get up the hill – it was nothing but rocks.

He looked around the village for the Game Corner. It had a sign indicating its status, and was connected to a fenced in area where Red could see five Dodrio resting. He entered the building, and saw that it was empty – except for an older man, who was sleeping.

Red called to him, and he woke up.

"Huh? Wait, you're not my daughter…"

Red shook his head, and pulled the meteorite from his backpack.

"A meteorite? That must be for my brother. He lives on the rocky hill over there." The old man gestured in that hill's direction. "Then again, I wouldn't want to send a kid up there… I'll take it if you do me a favor. My daughter should be in the forest on Kin Island. That's the island with the Three Island village. Can you check on her and make sure she's alright? I would go, but I have to watch the Dodrio. They can be quite feisty, you know."

Red didn't know, but he agreed to the request and hopped back on the ferry, lacking one meteorite.

The old man looked at it. "This is a rather nice rock. Kinda weird too… Well, my brother should still be at the market, so I better go get him."

The old walked out of his Joyful Game Corner. He didn't notice the colors on the meteorite slowly shifting, and the rock itself twitching…

* * *

><p>Another ferry, another island – Kin Island, home to the Three Island village. Red had to wonder what bureaucrat was responsible for these village names. This village was bigger than the previous two; it even had an actual port instead of just a few docks and a building. The port emptied out onto a small beach where there was no one, not even a child. Red expected the village to be rather peaceful and quiet settlement.<p>

He was greeted to the revving of engines instead. As he passed through two large rocks to enter the village proper, he could see thugs on motorcycles riding around town, acting like they owned the place. They had several of the villagers in a huddle, and were circling around them. The rest of the villagers hung back, waiting to see what these intruders were going to do.

An old woman from the huddle spoke up. "Oh! Please leave us alone! Your motorcycles are ruining my hearing!"

The biggest of them, a bulky man with a shaved head, laughed at the old woman's request. "Forget it! Not until we get what we want! Tell us where the gold is!"

"We don't have any gold!" she yelled back.

"Liar! Well, I suppose I have no choice. I'll make you talk!" He pulled out a Poke Ball and summoned his Muk. The Muk growled with irritation at the old woman. "Muk, use-!"

He stopped, noticing a pair of floating eyes suddenly appearing in front of him. Glowing, massive blue eyes. And then a wide, tooth-filled grin.

"_Say goodnii~iight!_"

Before he could ask what it was going on about, he fell asleep. The Muk growled at the eyes and mouth, intending to attack it, but it too fell asleep. But not before the eyes and mouth gave it a good taunt, which it then gave to the rest of the bikers. The floating face stuck out its tongue and waved it around like a particularly moist flag.

The bikers fell for its taunt, ceasing their circling and facing the face. They were then promptly sent to sleep. The sleeping bikers all lay on the ground next to their bikes, occasionally moving their hands as if revving their engines.

The face laughed, and revealed itself to be a Haunter.

"Good job, Rei!" called Red, walking over to the crowd of stunned villagers.

"Why, thank you, young man," said the old woman. The rest of the crowd also thanked Red, and starting cleaning up the mess.

"Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"Well, I'm looking for the daughter of a man from Two Island. He never gave me her name though… The man works at the Game Corner if that helps."

"Oh! Yes, I know that man and his daughter. Her name is Mayo. She should be in the Berry Forest. At least, that's where we last saw her going."

Red thanked the old woman, pulled out his bike, and biked towards the Berry Forest.

* * *

><p>Back on Two Island, the man who runs the Joyful Game Corner found his brother at the market and told him about the meteorite, a surprise gift. His brother said that it must have come from Bill or someone like that, because young children didn't go around and pick up random meteorites. The Game Corner man decided not to point out that his brother had, in fact, done that himself as a young boy.<p>

They found a surprise upon entering the Game Corner. A man was lying on the ground, face down. He was wearing leather pants and a leather jacket. A baseball bat was resting next to him.

Next his to hands was the meteorite, which the Game Corner man thought looked slightly different. A bit less colorful, perhaps.

"I wonder what happened to this guy…" asked his brother.

"I don't. He got what was coming to him for trying to steal this rock," said the man, recognizing the leather-clad man as one of those troublesome bikers roaming the islands. Where did those guys come from anyway? "That's the meteorite. Take it away!"

"I will. Thanks!" He watched his brother lift the rock, surprisingly heavy for its size, and waddle out of the Joyful Game Corner.

The man looked at the unconscious biker. "…Now what do I do what this idiot? Hm…"

* * *

><p>The Berry Forest – called such because of the sheer number and variety of berry-bearing trees within it. It was on a small subsidiary island to Kin Island, to its west, across the Bond Bridge. The overgrowth meant that people rarely entered the forest, and its location in the Sevii Islands ensured that most trainers would never enter this forest. Sure enough, Red could see great numbers of Pokémon wandering around in broad daylight, unconcerned with any encounters with people. Some of them were Pokémon Red hadn't noticed in the wild before – the short and stout Gloom, emitting a pungent odor, for example. And Red saw no people in the forest at all.<p>

That should make finding the girl named Mayo easy. Unfortunately, Red realized that he forgot to ask what she looked like or where she might be in this forest. He had to look everywhere!

He kept pedaling deeper into the Berry Forest, Rei following overhead. As he went in deeper, the trees were closer together and accompanied by shrubs. Red hopped off his bike and stowed it away, recognizing that it would be useless from here. As he did that, Rei called to him.

"_Red, I see a Hypno dragging a girl away just ahead. It may be the girl in question._"

Red nodded. They hurried in the direction she indicated, and saw the kidnapping in person. A small girl – Red guessed that she was younger than him – was being dragged away by her feet by a smirking Hypno. Near the two of them was a Pokémon Red didn't recognize – a small yellow snake-like Pokémon with small white wings and a drill-shaped tail. It wasn't moving, so Red assumed it was knocked out – or worse.

"Rei!" he yelled, drawing the Hypno's attention. It jumped, startled that another human had appeared, and drew out its pendulum.

"Shadow Punch!"

Rei launched many shadow fists at the Hypno, which ran away, assuming that such a tactic would work. Unfortunately for it, the Shadow Punches have to be countered with some other technique to be destroyed – otherwise, they will unceasingly follow. The Hypno tripped on a root, and it was struck in the back as it lay prone on the ground. It fainted. For good measure, Red caught it and sent it to Oak's Lab. He didn't think that they had any Hypno at the moment.

"Good job, Rei! Now then… Can you wake this girl up?"

Rei nodded. She put a hand on the girl's head and ate her dream. The girl woke up, screaming.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! What!? Where am I!?" She looked at Red and Rei. "Wha!? Who are you!?" She looked around, and saw her unmoving Dunsparce. "No! Tsuchi!" She went over to it and picked it up, cradling the snake-like Pokémon in her arms. Turning back to Red and Rei, she asked if they could take her back to the village's Pokémon Center. He agreed, and called out Kikka and let her ride him back.

"Thank you!" she cried out as Kikka lifted off. "I'm Mayo! I'll make you lunch sometime! Can you gather some berries for me?"

Red agreed once more, and gathered the berries as Kikka departed. The various wild Pokémon, seeing what Rei had done to the Hypno, kept away. After gathering a large assortment of berries, Red and Rei departed the forest for Three Island, meeting Kikka on the way there picking a fight with several Pidgeotto near Bond Bridge. He recalled the two of them and kept going.

* * *

><p>He met Mayo at the Pokémon Center, and Red told her why he had come. Mayo, wondering what her father wanted, departed on a ferry for Two Island. Red took the ferry back to One Island, and he met Bill and Celio in the Pokémon Net Center. They were standing in front of the Network Machine, having a conversation with a woman on the screen that Red didn't know. She pointed out Red's appearance to the two men.<p>

"Red! You're back!" proclaimed Bill. "Good news: the Network Machine is running. We can connect from here to Kanto and to Hoenn, a region to the south. This is Lanette, who manages the Pokémon Storage System of Hoenn. We wouldn't have been able to do this without her help!"

Celio nodded. "Indeed!"

Lanette chuckled. "Why thank you. Red, do you happen to have any Pokémon that evolve after being traded? We want to make sure we're replicated the trading process exactly. Bill's already evolved his Kadabra, so we needed to ask you."

Red nodded, and held out the Pokéballs for Rei and K2. Bill opened one of the front panels, revealing that it was also a trade machine. Red placed one of the Pokéballs into the proper spot. Lanette did the same on her end, and initiated two trades – a trade and a trade back. Red switched Pokéballs, and they repeated the process.

Red released his two Pokémon. What emerged were a rock with a turtle-like head, feet and clawed hands and an odd-shaped shadow sitting under that rock-turtle. A haunted shriek emerged from the shadow, scaring the rock-turtle – a Golem – from its spot. The odd "shadow", however, remained in place, and from it emerged a round Pokémon with large pointed ears, stubby arms and legs, bright red eyes, and a wide grin – a Gengar. Rei laughed and K2 roared at her.

Lanette chuckled again. "Good! It worked!"

Red recalled his two fully evolved Pokémon. Lanette, Bill and Celio thanked him for his help, and let him depart for Kindle Road. He told Bill that he delivered the meteorite successfully.

"You know, I know some people here in Hoenn who would be eager to study that meteorite," commented Lanette. "And you two really should come back to visit! I don't have much company where I live."

"I thought you liked it that way?" asked Celio.

"I do!"

"Well, we do need to visit Prof. Birch and let him know about this," added Bill. "So…"

* * *

><p>Kindle Road – separated from One Island by a small patch of seawater – was actually only a little more than half solid road. The solid road was split between sand and grass, with grass dominating the southern end and sand dominating the northern end. Grazing on the grass was a Pokémon that Red hadn't seen on the mainland – a Ponyta, like the one Blaine raised. Although they were exceedingly rare on the mainland, they prospered around Mt. Ember – so Red resolved to catch one. His mom always talked about wanting to ride on one.<p>

He sent out Rei to send it to sleep. However, as soon as the Ponyta saw the Gengar, it fled. The same happened with the next Ponyta. Capable jumpers, they jumped onto the rocky platforms bordering the grasslands to the west. Red scowled, knowing he couldn't get up there… and then came up with an idea. He told it to Rei, who grinned widely and immediately agreed to it. He released Tesla as well, who just went along with the plan, not caring much either way.

Red then distracted himself by challenging some of the trainers walking around Kindle Road. He found a group of campers who were also planning to hike up Mt. Ember, and challenged them to a battle. Two of them agreed, so he took them both on in a Double Battle.

While that was going on, one of the Ponyta jumped back down to graze once more, assuming the threat was gone. However, its shadow began shifting beneath it and grew out of the ground with glowing red eyes and a wicked grin. Startled, the Ponyta tried to burn away the shadow with Ember, but that attack merely transformed the sinister shadow into a sinister shadow that was also on fire. The shadow laughed with a deep, dark tone.

The Ponyta cried out, turned around and started running… directly at Tesla, who paralyzed it with a Thunder Wave. The Ponyta fell over, its legs twitching uselessly, and the shadow revealed itself to be Rei (still on fire, of course). Rei went for a high-five, but Tesla backed away from the burning ghost. Red, once he won his battle, walked over to the scene and captured the Ponyta, sending it to Oak's Lab.

"Good job, Tesla! You two, Rei!" He patted the two on the head, and then recalled them.

The campers watched all that from a distance.

"Wow… he creamed you two," mentioned one.

"I guess that's the difference between a dedicated Pokémon Trainer and… well, us. Right, Claire?" asked the second

"Hey, is that smoke?" asked the third, who was named Claire. She was looking at Mt. Ember, and sure enough there was a cloud of smoke coming from it. Red saw it as well when he looked at the mountain. "Do you think the mountain's about to erupt, Bryce?"

"No, we'd feel tremors," said Bryce. "But that's still suspicious…"

"I'll check it out!" exclaimed Red, releasing Kikka and hopping on his back. They flew off to Mt. Ember. The campers watched him fly away.

* * *

><p>"I told you not to set off the Electrodes yet! *cough*"<p>

"*cough* My bad! *cough* But I had no choice! We're out of options! Now come on!"

She heard frantic footsteps. That meant that the Rocket grunts were fleeing… but where?

She coughed. "Hold it! *cough* I'm not done with you two!" The smoke was obscuring her sight, so she couldn't tell which direction the grunts were running towards. There were things that she did know: she found the two of them here planting Electrodes; they told her to 'scram!' or they would have to hurt her, not knowing who she was; they said they were just searching for treasures and that she should mind her own business; she tricked them into revealing that they were Rocket grunts; they attacked her with their Pokémon, which she easily defeated with her Slowpoke. Then they Exploded their Electrodes, and that brought her back to the present.

The smoke cleared. She and her Slowpoke took in a deep breath of clean mountain air. Where there was once a rock wall, there was now a rocky passage leading to an unknown destination – likely a cave inside the volcano. Luckily for them, the Explosions didn't trigger an earthquake – or worse.

"Hey!" someone yelled behind her. Recognizing the voice, she turned and saw a young boy riding on a Pidgeot. "Are you okay!? Did something happen!? We saw the smoke from Kindle Road." The boy's Pidgeot dropped him off near her and roosted next to him.

"I'm fine," said Lorelei, the first of the Kanto Elite Four. "But this passage… Team Rocket grunts made it by blowing up Electrodes. They said they were looking for treasures…" She frowned. Between this, and what had happened on her home island, she had to wonder what Team Rocket was after on the Sevii Islands. Only one legendary Pokémon was known to live here, and the Rocket grunts ignored it. They were keeping her out of the way by holding her home island hostage, but they didn't steal her Pokémon. Treasures… What kind?

"Don't worry, ma'am! I'll take care of it!" Red exclaimed, pounding a fist on his chest. His Pidgeot chirped proudly, mimicking his trainer's actions. She found it cute, but didn't react. Instead, she asked him a question.

"…Do you not recognize me, Red?" she asked.

"Huh? Should I? I mean, you look familiar, but…" Red thought about for a moment. Who did he know that had red hair and glasses? "Oh! Right! You must be... a relative of Lance's!"

"…" Lorelei stared at Red as if he were an idiot. "No. I'm Lorelei of the Kanto Elite Four, Master of Ice-types. I also train a Slowbro, as you can see." She gestured to her Slowbro, who grinned and waved at Red.

"Oh okay."

"~pidg~" [Neat.]

There was a pause.

"Wait, what!?" Red shouted in surprise.

"~pidgeot!~" [Let's fight!] exclaimed Kikka eagerly.

"We can't fight her now, Kikka! It wouldn't mean anything. Sorry about not recognizing you, Lorelei! I think the last time I saw you, you had short hair and different glasses."

"Hm. Well, don't forget about me again."

"I guess you can handle Team Rocket by yourself, then."

"Unfortunately, I can't. They're holding my home island hostage. I can't go after them directly, or else they'll steal the entire village's Pokémon. I infiltrated Team Rocket and I've been striking at them in secret. I've even helped you." She pulled out a Team Rocket hat from her purse and put it on, tucking her hair under it. "Recognize me now?"

Red did. "You were that grunt who gave me my Lapras! Thanks for that!"

"I'll be counting on your help," she said as she removed the hat and put it away. "I need you to go to Floe Island and handle things there. Got it?"

Red nodded and Kikka imitated him. "You can count on me."

A sharp cry then rang out from the sky, accompanied by flapping wings and the smell of fire. Red, Lorelei, Kikka and the Slowpoke looked up and saw a bird flying above them, descending. The bird looked as if it were in fire, having wings, a head crest and tail made of red flames. The rest of its body was bright orange in color, and its beak was a light brown. When it landed on a rock ledge above them, they could see it for what it was – a Moltres.

"Wow!" exclaimed Red. Kikka flew up to the Moltres and challenged it to a fight, which it rejected without hesitation. A dejected Kikka returned to Red's side.

"The Titan of Fire – Moltres. So it's returned," added Lorelei. "I saw it fly away a few days ago when Team Rocket was trying to capture it. But now they've given up, deciding to go after some treasure… I'll go after these two grunts and get some information out of them. Red?"

"I know! Kikka, let's go!" He hopped on Kikka's back and they flew back to One Island.

Lorelei looked at Moltres, who had started grooming itself.

"Say, Moltres, can you do me a favor?"

The Moltres paused and stared intently at Lorelei, wondering what the human might want. It squawked an assent, which Lorelei's Slowbro translated for her.

"Excellent. Now here's the plan…"


	16. Islands

Chapter 16 – Islands

The fourth Island – Floe Island. A small island with a small village. The majority of the island was taken up by a massive cave formation – the Icefall Cave. The island was blessed to be a tropical paradise, yet the Icefall Cave offered sharp contrast and sent any who entered into a deep and bitterly cold cavern. Yet there was another blessing here – this cave became a sanctuary for wild Lapras, as well as other cold-loving creatures.

The people on the island coexisted with the Pokémon in the cave, and rarely did the two groups interact. The cavern had little to offer the islanders, and they had even less to offer back. Indeed, Lorelei was one of the few to ever enter the Icefall Cave in recent memory.

At least, until Team Rocket appeared.

They came in the night upon many black boats and took over the village. They were led by a wicked white grinning mask. What were they after? Some manner of 'treasure'. The villagers were of no consequence, but needed to stay out of their way, especially when it became clear that they knew nothing about the Icefall Cave. Not how deep down it went, not how wide across it was, not if it met the ocean or not – none of that knowledge was available.

The Mask of Ice altered his plan accordingly. Before the Sevii branch of Team Rocket suspended their operations, the branch leaders wanted to get their hands on the 'treasure' and share it between the two of them. So they were scouring every inch of every island for them. He sent out expeditionary groups into the cave some time ago, and it seemed that they were still exploring it. But they had yet to spot either 'treasure'. He told them to keep going for now.

They may yet find something valuable, as long as they keep searching…

* * *

><p>Red returned to the Pokémon Center on One Island and explained what was going on to Bill and Celio. Alarmed, Celio gave Red a Rainbow Pass, which would give him access to all the islands via ferry. The ferryman was hesitant to take Red to Four Island, but when Red explained who he was and what he was going to do, the man agreed to take him there.<p>

The island still appeared as normal to the casual observer. However, Rocket grunts were freely hanging out around the island. Some kept to their own business; others kept the villagers from rebelling. Red saw several by the Pokémon Center keeping guard. He couldn't count how many there were.

Red released all of his Pokémon. He would need them for this part.

* * *

><p>The Mask of Ice set up his base of operations in the island's Pokémon Center, taking over the Nurse's office and forcing her to care for their Pokémon. He asked therefore that no grunt enter the building unless their Pokémon were injured or there was some urgent news, like the finding one of the "treasures". Or an attack from a familiar brat.<p>

Sure enough, the Mask of Ice (along with two grunts) watched Red handily defeat his army of grunts with his six Pokémon. An impressive feat, to be sure, but one that he could also pull off. Rocket grunts were nothing more than weaklings, to be blunt, unfamiliar to the high art of Pokémon battling. Once again, the Mask of Ice would have to complain to… well, no one now that Team Rocket was about to dissolve. So now he couldn't even take out his displeasure on someone. Except the boy, of course.

"Hm. The boy is clearly too much for us to handle. And the prospect of going back to jail doesn't excite me… What's our escape plan?"

A female voice responded over a radio. "Don't you still have your boats? Use them and flee! This gives us enough time to escape with the device and wreck the secret base."

The Mask of Ice looked back out the window. The boy had camped his Lapras just offshore and was using her to keep the grunts away from their boats. The townspeople were starting to get involved as well and rebelling against them. They were telling the boy something and…

Uh oh.

"Mask of Ice! Can you hear me!?"

"Yes. The boy is keeping us from our boats. It's unfortunate, but it looks like we'll have to surrender here. I can stall for time if you can get me out of jail again." He pulled out two Pokeballs and had his grunts do the same.

"Understood." The radio static flicked out. The Mask of Ice smashed the radio on the ground, destroying it. The less evidence, the better.

Another radio suddenly flickered into life. "Mask of Ice! Come in! This is the Icefall Cave Exploration team! We've scoured the entire cavern! But neither treasure is here!"

The Mask of Ice cursed under his breath.

The voice continued. "However! We found some rare Pokémon! Wild Lapras! Shall we capture them?"

"As much as I'd love to say yes, they're not part of the plan. Leave them be and escape! The boy is…!"

The door to the Pokémon Center suddenly opened. Red entered the room, flanked by a Pikachu, Espeon and Gengar. "You again! I saw you before at the Seafoam Islands! I won't let you get away with terrorizing Lorelei's home!"

"…How rude. I was in the middle of a call." The Mask of Ice then proceeded to ignore Red. "As I was saying, the Lapras are none of our concern. They must have gotten in there from an underground river or something, so use that to escape. Farewell." He ended the call and smashed the radio.

"You. Boy. Do you know what you are doing? Interfering in Team Rocket's affairs? Do you know what happens to people who do that?"

Red wasn't intimidated. The man behind the mask frowned.

"Fool. You may have beaten me once, but don't get cocky!" The Mask of Ice pulled out a Pokéball and brought out his Delibird. "I'll show you my true power!"

* * *

><p>The battle was over before it began. Red had only gotten stronger since the last time they had battled, and he swiftly defeated the Mask of Ice and his two grunts. When the trio tried to escape to the boats, Silph summoned up a wave and knocked them out to sea. When they swam back to the shore, they found a horde of angry townspeople waiting for them.<p>

"Ehehehe… I'm sure you'll allow us to go in peace, right?"

These three were apprehended, just like the others. Red stayed on Four Island to keep an eye on them and to watch out for a rescue team. But none appeared.

In fact, the first ferry that sailed in contained none other than a lightly scorched Lorelei. In her right hand, she was holding a bright red gemstone. "Well done, Red! Thanks for taking care of these pests for me. It looks like this is what the grunts were after." She held up the gem so that Red could see it clearly. It appeared the same as any other cut ruby, yet it gave off a warm red glow. Red could feel the heat of raging fires in his mind.

"What kind of gem is this?" he asked.

Lorelei shrugged. "I don't know. All it does is glow. Apparently, it has a counterpart – a glowing blue gem. Team Rocket already has that one, so we need to go and get it. Their secret base is on Chrono Island."

And so they went.

* * *

><p>The man swore he had taken his eyes off the meteorite for only a few moments. Just enough for him to grab a sandwich for lunch. That was not enough time for any geological processes to weather such a solid rock, and there was no way they could have occurred in his lab anyway. The rock was too solid to simply fracture under its own weight. And yet, all that remained of it was dust and the fractured remains of a rock shell. And the vibrant colors…<p>

They had all faded to a blank and dull grey.

* * *

><p>The fifth island of the Sevii Islands was not truly a single island. It was in fact a group of five islands in close proximity to each other, sheltering each other from the strong surface currents surrounding them. This group of five was known alternatively as Five Island or Chrono Island. The main island was also referred to as just Five Island, to make matters even more confusing.<p>

However, we are not truly concerned with all these matters of identity. Only one identity matters here – the identity of the metal building constructed in the meadow on the main island, to the east of the village and the Pokémon Center. That building is the Rocket Warehouse. The secret base of the Sevii branch of Team Rocket. A den of thieves and bullies.

This base was strictly a research and operations base, given the lack of rare Pokémon (besides Moltres and those Lapras) in the Sevii Islands. From this base, the command was given for the researcher known as Gideon to recover the Sapphire from Six Island, one of the treasures they desired. From this base, the command was given for two grunts to go to One Island and recover the Ruby, the other treasure they required. From this base, the command was given for the Mask of Ice to take over Four Island and explore the Icefall Cavern.

From this base, they heard the sounds of interference. Red interference.

"So, now what?" asked Gideon. He did not have any administrative power, but as head researcher the two true admins respected his input. He was a smart man. "The boy will come here, and Lorelei is now free. She will seek to crush us."

The two admins grinned at each other. "She can't crush us if there's nothing to crush," said one.

The other one held up the Sapphire, a glowing blue gem. It gave off a soft blue light, and was said to resonate with the powers of the depths of the ocean. They wanted to use it as a power source for a device no one had ever created – or even imagined – before. But they also needed the Ruby. Hopefully, their grunts grabbed it; if not, hopefully the kid would bring it with him.

"This base has outlived its usefulness anyway. Now it's just evidence. And you know what we do with evidence."

Gideon knew. He made the call to evacuate.

* * *

><p>Lorelei and Red arrived to Five Island in time to find a raging fire in the meadow and panicking villagers. Suspecting that Team Rocket was behind this as well, they hurried to what was once the Rocket Warehouse and saw the last of Team Rocket about to load out in boats and escape.<p>

"Hold it!" yelled Red.

"Freeze!" added Lorelei.

Two Rocket members and a scientist turned to face them, while the rest continued to prepare the boats. One of the Rocket members was holding a blue gem, which glowed more brightly in the presence of the Ruby. The Ruby shone more brightly as well. They realized that it must be the Sapphire.

"Hand over the Sapphire!" demanded Lorelei.

"I don't think so! You hand over the Ruby!" countered the one holding the Sapphire. "That's all we want. If you give it to us nicely, we'll leave in peace and forget this whole thing ever happened. Doesn't that sound good?"

Evidently it didn't. Lorelei fumed. "You! Do you think I'm going to let you get away with what you've done to these islands?"

The Rocket members laughed out loud. "And how exactly are you going to stop us? A little kid and some woman are going to stand up to us? That's cute!"

Lorelei blinked. Did no one recognize her? True, she didn't appear in public very often, but neither did Bruno and everyone seemed to recognize him on sight. Then again, Bruno is Bruno. He's hard not to notice. In any case, now it was her turn to be amused. She smirked. "I think you're confused. Do you not know who I am? I am Lorelei of the Elite Four."

The Rocket members stopped laughing.

"That's right. And sure you know this kid. The one who stopped your operations in Celadon and Saffron. The one who defeated that unknown Pokémon you created on Cinnabar."

The Rocket admin holding the Sapphire spat. "Of course, we know him. The brat! Curses! The worst combination is right in front of us. No matter! We'll take you on! Gideon, get out of here while you can! We'll hold them off!" The admin tossed the Sapphire to the scientist…

…and it was swept away before he could grab it.

"Wha-!" Gideon's momentum carried him to the ground.

Red felt an immense presence suddenly appear in his head. It wasn't like Mewtwo, who radiated hostility as if it were heat. No, this one gave off an inscrutable aura, one that Red couldn't see through. He could only detect its presence…

"Look up!" he yelled. Everyone followed his command, where they saw the Sapphire hovering around a purple crystal sphere. The air shifted, and the Ruby flew out of Lorelei's hand and near the crystal sphere. The three stones began to resonate with each other and the glow became more pronounced – blinding them. The pressure built up in Red's head, and he fell over in pain.

"Red!"

Lorelei grabbed him. "What's going on?" The lights brightened once more and she shut her eyes. Yet a thin sliver crept in between the cracks. "Are you okay? Red!"

Red didn't answer.

"Gideon! What's going on?" yelled one of the Rocket admins.

"I don't know! I've never seen this before! It's – ah!"

"Gideon! Gideon!" "What the hell is going on!?"

Suddenly, the light ceased. The Ruby and Sapphire had decomposed into a gel-like substance that floated around the floating crystal. Gideon, possessed by the meteorite's power, was hovering underneath them. His eyes were blank; his mind had gone away to greener pastures. The crystal floated down to his chest, tore it open with its psychic power and situated itself where the center of his ribcage once was. The red and blue gels consumed his body whole.

Devouring him. Deconstructing him. Transforming him.

Eventually, the light faded enough for everyone – except Red, still reeling from the meteorite's power – to open their eyes again. They looked up, not knowing what to expect. What they saw thus did not shock them. It would be as if you turned a street corner one day and found yourself on the other side of the world, in an entirely different country, with no way to explain to anyone how this could have happened and why you don't have a passport. What you would feel then goes beyond mere shock. Not even confusion is appropriate, although it comes closer.

This unnamed feeling is what Lorelei and the survivors of the Rocket gang felt as the stated at the strange creature before them as they watched the last bits of Gideon decompose into its gelatinous being. It had a crystal core on its chest and a red and blue body. Two tentacles freely whipped about where arms once were. It had no feet, traffic-cone legs, and its ears were rectangular blocks – assuming those things were indeed ears. It at least had recognizable eyes of black-white-black, though they gave off no emotion. No human emotions, anyway.

It spoke with no mouth, vibrating the air around it. It spoke with Gideon's voice.

"REGENERATION SUCCESSFUL. COMMENCING PLANETARY ANALYSIS."

It then flew away, as inexplicably as it arrived and was born.

At least, it would have if a massive psychic blast didn't take off its head.

* * *

><p>Team Rocket decided that this would be an excellent time to run away. They would have to do without those treasures for now. In fact, the admins were coming up with a new plan…<p>

Lorelei backed away from the decapitated alien, holding onto Red and watching his vital signs. So far he was stable, but still unconscious. She watched as the mysterious Pokémon from Cinnabar Island descended in front of her, its fur bristling and tail twitching wildly. Lorelei and Mewtwo watched as the alien regenerated its head, its face not registering any change in emotion from the brutal assault it suffered.

"What are you doing here!?" Lorelei demanded of Mewtwo.

"_Of course I would be here! I challenge all strong opponents! Speaking of 'strong opponents', you are of the Elite Four, correct? Your name is Lorelei_," Mewtwo responded. Lorelei nodded. The alien made some inquisitive-sounding beeps while hovering around Mewtwo. The clone kept his attention split between the humans and the alien, just in case the alien tried an attack.

"Yes. Do you have a name?"

"_I am… I was once the secret Team Rocket genetics project known only as Project M. I am now called 'Mewtwo'. Do you know what this thing in front of me is? I'm reading its mind, but all I can hear are beeps and clicks and I don't know what they mean._"

"It came from the meteorite when we brought the Ruby and Sapphire together. It seems like the Rockets were after those gems for some reason, but this thing wanted them more."

"_Hm. I wonder what Father wanted with those gems. Well, it doesn't matter. Team Rocket has been disbanded, so now I'm free to do what I want. Therefore, I challenge you, meteorite-tentacle-thingy!_"

"I think we can come up with a better name than that and did you just say that Team Rocket was disbanded-" Before Lorelei could finish processing what Mewtwo just said, the alien spoke again.

"UNABLE TO COMPLETE ANALYSIS. UNIDENTIFIABLE CREATURE PRESENT. IDENTIFIABLE CREATURES INCLUDE 'HUMANS', 'GRASS' AND 'TREES'. REQUESTING THAT UNIDENTIFIABLE CREATURE IDENTIFY ITSELF."

"_Weren't you listening to me earlier!? I am Mewtwo! Who are you?_"

"THIS UNIT IS AN ANALYSIS PROBE. THIS UNIT IS DESIGNED TO STUDY DISTANT PLANETS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES. QUERY: WHAT IS A 'MEWTWO'?"

"_I will be the strongest Pokémon there is!_"

"UNDERSTOOD. 'MEWTWO' IS A 'POKÉMON'. LOCAL ANALYSIS COMPLETE. INITIATING REGIONAL ANALYSIS." The alien slowly flew away, making those same beeping noises. Mewtwo followed it, watching, wary of its hidden power. As for Lorelei…

She had a few calls to make.

* * *

><p>Red woke up underneath an unfamiliar ceiling. The pressure in his head had lifted, but a faint silicic presence remained. He could feel it moving in the distance, along with the more familiar presence of Mewtwo. Did the alien and the clone decide to work together? Or are they fighting? Red couldn't tell from where he was, lying in a hospital bed.<p>

His throat felt dry. He coughed.

He felt another presence nearby. Ice-like. That must be Lorelei. She was on the phone, talking to someone… Prof. Oak? Lance? She was explaining something to them.

He stood up and left the hospital room. A nurse asked him if he was okay; he felt fine now that the alien was gone. Not that he mentioned it to her. He wasn't all that surprised to learn that aliens were real, but other people might not believe him. So maybe this should stay secret, like Mewtwo. Assuming Mewtwo was still 'secret', given what happened on Cinnabar Island.

Red noticed that his bag wasn't in the room with him, nor were his Pokémon. Lorelei had them both sitting next to her while she was on the phone. She had already been seen to, so the scorch marks and burns on her skin had been treated. She didn't turn around when he greeted her.

"_Lorelei! What happened? I saw that alien and then I…_"

"You passed out. Mewtwo appeared and is following the alien. Team Rocket ran away, but I don't think they'll be troubling these islands again. After all, the alien consumed those treasures they wanted. So this is our victory."

"Don't be so sure," added Lance, one of the people she was talking to on the video-phone. She was splitting the call with him, Agatha and Prof. Oak. Bruno wouldn't be anywhere near a phone right now, so Lance would go find him and tell him about this incident. "We don't know what this alien will do once it finishes that analysis. We also don't know what kind of power it has."

"We ought to destroy that thing right now while we know where it is!" demanded Agatha, the Master of Ghost-type Pokémon. "And Red! What happened to your voice? I feel like you just spoke through a radio!"

"_What do you mean? I'm talking like…_" Red paused when he realized his lips weren't moving. Whatever that alien what done to him… was it that same as what Mewtwo did? Awakening his psychic powers? Why couldn't his powers be awakened without him nearly dying?

Red coughed and tried to speak, but hoarse whispers came out instead.

"The alien did something to his brain," said Lorelei while Red was distracted with trying to talk.

"Hmmm… Sabrina might know how to deal with this. She's the resident expert on Psychic powers," commented Prof. Oak.

"Agreed. She'll know how to get rid of this… thing. I'm the closest to Saffron, so I'll go talk to her." With that, Agatha promptly dropped out of the conversation.

"It seems that whatever Team Rocket takes root, chaos follows. I'm certainly glad that they've disbanded, if what this 'Mewtwo' says is correct. But I can't help but wonder why that happened and what Team Rocket's plan was in the first place." Lance sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll have to continue investigating. Red, will I see you at the Indigo Plateau on the eve of autumn?"

Red nodded.

"Excellent. Farewell until then!" Lance hung up. Prof. Oak hung up as well, but not before wishing Red well and telling him that his mother missed him. He promised not to tell her what happened. Lorelei decided to keep an eye on that alien and the clone for now.

As for Red, he got back to what he originally came to the Sevii Islands to do. Train!

* * *

><p>Later on, he ran into Blue on Six Island, and he told his rival all about what happened.<p>

"Aww man! I missed everything! I have the worst timing! I wasn't there for Celadon, Cinnabar, and now this… Bah! Well, there isn't anything to do on these islands anyway, so I'm going home. Smell ya later, Red!"

"_Blue!_"

Blue paused on the dock.

"_Next time I see you, it'll be at the Indigo Plateau. And then… I'll be the new Champion!_"

Blue laughed. "We'll see about that! You haven't seen what I can _really_ do!"

The two waved goodbye. They would soon meet on the field of battle.


	17. Level Five

Chapter 17 – Level Five

The path to glory is long and treacherous, and so is the path to challenge the Elite Four. The First Champion wanted to make absolutely sure that only worthy trainers could come and face him, and it's said that the first Elite Four were brought together to carve the tunnel out of a mountain themselves. Such a trialing cavern was this that many entered but few completed the journey. Some realized that they lacked training and opted to stay in the cavern; the rest turned tail and fled.

For Red, there was only one outcome – completing the Victory Road!

He smiled and passed through the gates to the Indigo Plateau. The red brick building itself sat at the top of the plateau and stretched back as far as Red could see. It was surrounded by evergreen trees to the sides, unaffected by the waning heat of autumn, and mountains dotted the landscape in the distance to the north and west. Was he truly going to fight the Elite Four and Blue (he refused to call Blue the Champion just yet) in this long and plain building? It didn't seem fitting for such a tremendous struggle…

A Fearow cried somewhere in flight.

Red entered the building. Only a handful of trainers were present, as the challenge week had just begun that morning. Despite its prestige, few were truly interested in besting the Elite ones, and fewer of those completed the challenge that is Victory Road. A familiar nurse and her staff were treating Pokémon, and Red had his team fully healed and checked out. They were ready.

He was ready.

* * *

><p>A few trainers were ahead of him, and Red waited impatiently for them to lose. He wanted his chance at Blue! In the meantime, he planned out his strategy against the Elite Four and bought a lot of healing items. A few of the other trainers gave him odd looks, wondering what a kid so young was doing here. Most were indifferent to him, and a few even recognized him. They wanted to come up and talk to him, but he kept silent.<p>

A trainer returned from the chambers beyond, hands in her pockets, slumped from the weight of loss. It was Red's turn now. He stood up, and entered the first chamber – Lorelei's chamber. An arena was drawn in the center of the blue-tiled floor, and chilly breezes drifted across the red-walled chamber, emanating from six ice pillars. Lorelei stood on the opposite side of the arena. Not present were the clone and the alien.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up… Welcome to the Pokémon League, Red. Are you ready to face my icy Pokémon and their freezing power?"

Red nodded. Lorelei laughed.

"Excellent. Go, Dewgong!"

Lorelei sent out her sea lion Pokémon, while Red countered with Tesla. Lorelei, recognizing Red's intensions, recalled the Dewgong and sent out her Jynx. Red took the opportunity for a free attack, and had Tesla use his super Strength on the Jynx. The Pikachu began glowing with a white aura, and then dashed at the Jynx, picked her up and threw her into an ice pillar. The humanoid Pokémon crashed into the pillar and took heavy damage, but managed to stand back up.

"Jynx! Ice Punch!"

"_Tesla! Use Strength again!_"

The Jynx's hands glowed blue as Tesla shined white and the two dashed at each other. They circled around each other, looking for an opportunity for a clean strike. Tesla recognized that the Jynx was faster, and knew that he couldn't get a hit in without also getting hit.

So that's just what he did. Even with a glancing blow, the icy nature of the Jynx's attack took a lot out of him. Yet, he was able to grab the Jynx and toss her into a different pillar, and this time she didn't get back up. Lorelei recalled the Jynx and sent out Dewgong. Tesla shocked the Dewgong with a Thunder Wave, paralyzing her. She couldn't move and had to take a Thunderbolt barrage, knocking her out as well. Lorelei sent out her Cloyster, but it was taken down with just one Thunderbolt.

Lorelei frowned. _I have to do something about that Pikachu… Perhaps Slowbro can settle this._

"Go, Slowbro. Use Psychic!"

"_Tesla! Thunderbolt!_"

Tesla shocked the Slowbro with all of his might, but she ignored it and blasted him with a powerful Psychic attack. He went flying into a third pillar, and slid down unconscious. Red recalled Tesla, frowning. Lorelei saw through his plan completely…

Well, he wasn't out just yet. "_Go, Geselle!_" he cried, sending out his Espeon.

Lorelei stared. What could Red be up to with this? If he was trying to nullify her Slowbro, she could still use Surf. Perhaps it knew Bite or Shadow Ball.

Red confirmed this by calling for Geselle to bite the Slowbro, which was staring impassively at the Espeon. She didn't react once bitten and knocked Geselle away with Surf on Lorelei's orders. However, Geselle wasn't fazed by that watery attack, and knocked out the Slowbro from a distance using Swift.

_Why am I not surprised that things are going this way?_ thought Lorelei as she recalled Slowbro and sent out her Lapras, her final Pokémon. The graceful Geselle danced around her Lapras' Hydro Pump attacks, and finished her off with a barrage of Psychic attacks. Lorelei recalled her Lapras, her oldest partner.

She smiled "Well done Red. Go on ahead. Remember, this is only a taste of the League's power."

Red nodded. "_Right. Whatever happened to…_?"

"Mewtwo is keeping an eye on the alien. They're still at the Sevii Islands. After this, I think I'm going to retire from the League for a while and keep an eye on the two of them. Just in case."

"_OK. Thanks!_"

"No problem," replied Lorelei as Red healed his team and departed to face the next of the Elite Four. "It's the least I owe my friends and family back home for letting them down..."

* * *

><p>Red entered the second chamber – Bruno's chamber. It had a similar layout to Lorelei's, with a sandy floor and six stone pillars. Bruno sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the arena, eyes closed in silent meditation. Red stood in opposition to Bruno, and the fighter opened his eyes once Red was in position. Bruno recognized the boy as one of the kids the hung around Oak's lab, like the one who was now their Champion.<p>

Truthfully, as long as he was able to fight and defeat ever-stronger opponents, he did not care who was Champion nor if they even had one. He stood up.

"Prepare yourself, boy, for I live and train with my Fighting-type Pokémon! Rigorous training together allows people and Pokémon to become stronger without limit. We will grind you down with our superior power! HOO HAH!"

With that said, Bruno sent out one of his two Onix. Red responded by sending out Silph, his Lapras. Bruno immediately recalled it and sent out his Hitmonchan, but the Punchy Pokémon was then swept away by the wall of water that is Surf. The Hitmonchan recovered quickly, and rushed Silph, side-stepping the Ice Beams she fired at him. Once close, he knocked her into the sky with a Sky Uppercut, but at such close range he couldn't dodge another Ice Beam. The cold blast knocked him out, and Silph crashed on the ground nearby.

Bruno recalled his Hitmonchan as Red recalled Silph. Bruno sent out his Hitmonlee. Red sent out Kikka, and the Pidgeot let out a fierce cry as he sized up his new opponent. Kikka quickly knocked the Kicking Pokémon out with a single Wing Attack, striking hard with his broad wings. Bruno frowned, recalled his Hitmonlee and sent his first Onix back out.

Red, however, had other plans, and commanded Kikka to use Whirlwind. The fierce tornado picked the Onix up and carried it beyond Bruno's chamber. Bruno frowned again and sent out his Machamp. Kikka flew up, preparing to strike the Machamp with its Fly attack. The Machamp Bulked Up his muscles, preparing himself to take the hit and deal a devastating counterattack. Kikka dived head-first at the Machamp, striking him at the center of his chest, sending him sliding back a few feet. The Machamp, seemingly unfazed, quickly lunged at the surprised Kikka and hit him with a four-armed Cross Chop. The bird was slammed into the sandy floor, leaving a sizeable crater behind.

Red recalled Kikka, knowing that the bird wasn't getting up after that one. But that was alright, because Geselle would be able to sweep this match. She blasted the Machamp away with a Psychic attack before it could even react, and did the same to Bruno's two Onix.

The match was over in three flashes. Geselle purred, glowing under the artificial lights. Red recalled his partner, while Bruno fumed.

"Why? How could I lose to another child!?"

He closed his eyes, exhaled, and calmed down. This could only mean that he needed more training.

"My job here is done, boy. Go face your next challenge."

As Red healed his team and departed, Bruno returned to his meditation. He did not have the feeling that he would be interrupted by another battle, and began planning his next training regimen. Perhaps a visit to the Cerulean Cave was in order…

* * *

><p>Red entered the third chamber – Agatha's chamber. Sand and stones gave way to purple tiles and large grave markers. Agatha stood on the opposite end of the battlefield, impatiently tapping her cane. She had been waiting eagerly for her chance to battle this child that Oak had taken interest in, and wondering what was so special about him.<p>

She chuckled. "So, here you are, the second of Oak's lab kids to come challenge us. You know… Oak himself was once a tough trainer, like you and I. But know he just fiddles around with his PokéDex!" She scoffed. "He's wrong. Pokémon are for battling! Red, I'll show you how a real trainer fights!"

With that, she sent out a Gengar. Red sent out Rei, his own Gengar. Agatha's Gengar hit Rei with a Confuse Ray, but Rei was able to shrug it off temporarily and knock out the other Gengar with a Shadow Ball. Agatha sent out her Haunter, which Hypnotized Rei and sent her to sleep, too dazed and confused to use her speed advantage.

Red recalled her and sent out Geselle, who wasn't affected by the Haunter's attempt to eat her dreams. It was overwhelmed by the power of her Psychic attack and quickly fainted. Agatha, pleased with the boy's skill, sent out her second, much stronger, Gengar. The Shadow Pokémon laughed at her opponent, and Geselle growled at the Ghost-type.

"Gengar! Shadow Ball!"

"_Geselle! Psychic!_"

The shadow ghost gathered ghastly energy in her hands. The psychic fox-cat focused its mind, and made a rippling rainbow-colored energy sphere. The two Pokémon launched their attacks directly at each other, and the two collided in a devastating explosion. Even the trainers were knocked back due to its sheer force – but only a few feet.

When the smoke cleared, the six grave markers were all heavily cracked, and the two Pokémon were lying on the floor unmoving. And then, slowly – very slowly – Geselle raised her head and weakly began to get up. Agatha whistled a note and recalled her Gengar.

_This child is quite the trainer_, she thought. _It's a shame he and his grandson didn't rub off more on Oak. Oh well._

She sent out her Golbat, knowing that the battle would quickly end with her last Ghost-type defeated. Indeed, Geselle knocked out not only her Golbat, but also her Arbok, with Psychic power. Red recalled his tired partner.

Agatha smiled. "My, you're something special, child. I see what that old duff sees in you know. I saw it in Blue too, so you had better be ready to face him. I've nothing else to say, so run along child."

Red thanked Agatha, healed his team and departed. With such strong young trainers coming up, surely more people would be inspired to reach the heights that she had reached. Perhaps they would even go beyond into a new realm of strength…

* * *

><p>Red entered the fourth chamber – Lance's chamber. Yet, he did not see Lance. Before him was a wall, and a path that bent to an unknown destination. It was lit only with torches and littered with statues of Dragon-type Pokémon. He followed the teal-tiled road along into the true chamber of the fourth Elite. This chamber held six fang statues, and Lance stood at the back in an intense pose. Lance smirked.<p>

"Red! It was about time that you came to challenge me, Lance, the leader of the Elite Four! You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon. Their powers are immense… they're practically indestructible! They may be hard to catch and raise, but that is no problem for someone as skilled as I! I've heard of how you battle…you won't beat me by being clever! Prepare yourself for defeat! Your League challenge will end here!"

With that last sentence said, Lance brought out his Gyarados. It was not a true Dragon-type, but it was powerful enough for his needs. Red responded by sending out Tesla, naturally. Lance, recognizing that his Water-type couldn't win here, switched him out with one of his Dragonair. Red, however, predicted this and had Tesla use Thunder Wave, paralyzing the serpentine dragon.

He then switched out Tesla for Silph. The Dragonair was too helpless to press its momentary advantage, and quickly fell to the Lapras' Ice Beam. Lance recalled the fainted comrade and sent his Gyarados back out.

_Hmmm… I appear to be stuck! I have to knock out that Lapras… or at least get him to switch it out!_ thought Lance.

"Gyarados! Hyper Beam! Full power!"

As the Gyarados roared and began gathering a massive amount of energy in its mouth, Red switched Kikka in, deciding to save Silph for the late game. A clever idea had just struck him…

"_Kikka! Get ready!_"

Kikka cried aloud and took flight. The Gyarados ignored him, focusing on increasing its power to the absolute maximum until… it exploded with fury! The shining-whit laser beam moved swiftly, surprising Kikka and striking him head on. Lance smirked, knowing that the bird wouldn't be prying itself out of the ceiling anytime soon.

So he was quite surprised when Kikka did just that. And not only that, the bird seemed unfazed by the laser attack. "What!?" he yelled, as Kikka swooped down and smacked his Gyarados hard with a Wing Attack. Not only that, but Kikka used his speed advantage to flap some dust from the ceiling into the Gyarados' eyes. The Gyarados lashed out, trying to Bite the bird, but missed.

So the pattern went: Kikka dove in, struck the Atrocious Pokémon with his wings, and quickly escaped before the Gyarados could figure out where he was and strike back. In short order, the Gyarados fell. Lance recalled it and sent out his Aerodactyl. The Fossil Pokémon swiftly knocked Kikka with an AncientPower attack, and Red recalled the bird and sent Silph back out.

Lance knew he couldn't send his strongest Pokémon out without a safe switch-in, and so tried to do his best with Aerodactyl. But Silph had too great an advantage, and knock out the pterosaur with two Ice Beams, taking only minimal damage in return. Lance sent out his oldest and strongest partner – his Dragonite, which roared with majestic power.

"Dragonite! Crush this Lapras with your imperial draconic wrath! Outrage!"

The Dragonite roared again as its eyes shone red and its body glowed with a thick, malicious red aura that rolled off of it in waves. It lunged at the Lapras, attacking her with a furious barrage of punches, kicks and tail slaps. Combined with the prior damage Silph took, the fury was too much for her and she passed out as she crashed into a wall. Red recalled her immediately, and the Dragonite paused, waiting for another target. It roared again. Lance laughed.

"Do you understand our power now, Red!? The power of Kanto's legendary Dragon-types!"

But Red could sense some unease from Lance. Perhaps there was a way to defeat this dragon without Silph! There was only one way to find out, and he sent out Rei. The Gengar was faster than the outraged dragon and Hypnotized it, sending it to sleep. Rei struck the Dragonite with one Shadow Ball, and it remained asleep. Rei struck it again, and it woke up, making a pained yawn. Lance commanded it to use Outrage again, and the Dragon Pokémon's furious attack knocked Rei out after one furious barrage.

Red recalled his Pokémon. He could sense some weariness in the Dragonite's breathing. The end was near. He sent out K2, his Golem. Its rock-solid exterior would let it withstand this next attack. Sure enough, even with the Dragonite's superpower, all those punches and kicks weren't enough to knock out K2. The red aura faded away from the Dragonite, and it began to stumble about in confusion.

"_Here's our chance! K2, use Rollout!_"

The Megaton Pokémon roared, curled up into a ball, and rolled with great speed at the Dragonite. With his momentum, he knocked the great dragon over, smashing it into one of the fang statues. He then escaped, rolling away before the Dragonite could get back up, gathering momentum for another attack. Although the Dragonite was somewhat weak to that attack, it was not yet defeated and slowly picked itself out of the rubble. However, it was still confused.

In its confusion, it tripped over some of the rubble and fell face down on it, knocking itself out. An embarrassed Lance recalled his comrade, and sent out his last Pokémon – another Dragonair.

"My last Pokémon… let's go! Outrage!"

The Dragonair roared and began to glow with the same red aura as the Dragonite had. K2 rolled in the direction of the roar, gathering more and more momentum, and the Dragon Pokémon barreled towards the Golem. The two collided and bounced off each other, flying diagonally and knocking down a statue each. The Dragonair got up, but K2 did not. Red recalled his Golem and sent out Geselle. The Espeon swiftly blasted the Dragonair with her Psychic power, knocking him out.

The battle was over. The two trainers recalled their tired partners.

"You are indeed a Pokémon Master, Red. I would love to crown you the Indigo League Champion… but you have one more battle ahead of you. You must face the strongest of us Elite trainers, Blue! He is the true Champion! …for now, anyway."

Lance smiled. "If there's anyone who can beat Blue, it would be you Red. Heal your team and go on to the next room."

Red did exactly that.

As for Lance, he went back to gather the rest of the Elite Four. This Champion match would be one worth watching! And for that matter, didn't Professor Oak say he would be coming to watch this battle…?

* * *

><p>Red entered the final chamber, and the first thing he saw was Blue standing in the center of the room, the center of the arena. He smirked as Red continued walking down the yellow-tiled walkway into the arena proper. The arena was rotated 90 degrees compared to the four prior chambers, and was blue-tiled. There was an archway in the back wall, leading to another room.<p>

Blue waved. "Hey, Red! I was wondering when you would show up, you Slowpoke! I was looking forward to seeing you. My rival ought to be strong to keep me sharp! …not that you've done a good job at that." Blue stuck his tongue out, and Red fumed silently.

"While I was working on Gramp's PokéDex, I looked all over for strong Pokémon. I've made a team that can beat any Pokémon type! And now, I'm the Indigo League Champion! You know what that means Red? It means…" ranted Blue, as he pointed at thumb to his chest, "…that I'm the strongest Pokémon Trainer around! You won't be beating me today!"

"_We'll see about that!_" countered Red.

Blue laughed at that remark, and sent out his first Pokémon – his trusty Arcanine. Red countered with the obvious choice of Silph. Blue immediately switched it out and sent out his Exeggutor, but Red saw that coming and had Silph use Ice Beam. The super-effective attack froze away most of the Coconut Pokémon's vitality, leaving it with only a sliver of health. Blue decided to let it go so that he could get a safe switch-in, and Silph knocked the poor plant monster out with a Body Slam.

Blue recalled the Grass-type. "Not bad! But let's see how you handle this!"

Blue sent out his Umbreon. "Use Confuse Ray!" The Umbreon created an orange ball of light and fired it at Silph. The bewitching light expanded and dissolved, confusing the Lapras. She began flailing about randomly, sometimes hitting herself. The Umbreon stealthily snuck around Silph and struck her with several Faint Attacks before Red decided to recall her.

He sent out Kikka. "_Whirlwind!_"

The bird cried aloud and whipped up a might twister than picked up the Umbreon and carried him back out the front door, where Red entered.

Blue frowned. "Boo! I hate that move! Oh well… Go, Gyarados! Use Dragon Dance!"

The Atrocious Pokémon roared, and began to glow with a powerful red aura. It began dancing in a circle, slithering faster and faster, while Kikka circled the air, preparing to strike with its Fly attack. The Gyarados Danced once more at Blue's command. Kikka attacked the water serpent, only to find that its attack had minimal effect. The Gyarados roared with annoyance and great power.

"Check this out, Red! Gyarados, Thrash!"

The Gyarados roared again, and lunged at the flying Pidgeot. Kikka dodged the beast's mouth, but was struck hard by its mighty and twice-blessed tail. Kikka rocketed into the ceiling, leaving behind a massive crater in the ceiling and a hole leading beyond. None of them could see its top, and Red could barely sense Kikka's vitality somewhere in the darkness.

It was at that moment that the Elite Four walked into the Champion's Chamber, Lance carrying Blue's Umbreon. He didn't want to think about how they were going to pay for all these repairs.

Red began calling for Kikka, while Blue started laughing. "Ha! Did you see that, Red! That's the power of a Champion! My power! There's no way your Pidgeot's gonna come flying down from there, so you might as well…"

Blue didn't finish that sentence, as he was interrupted by a bird's furious cry.

"What!? How!?" exclaimed Blue in surprise.

"_Let's go, Kikka! Fly!_" cheered a hopeful Red.

Kikka dove down from the ceiling and smashed head on into the mighty Gyarados, critically damaging it. Yet, it was not so hurt that it couldn't return the favor, smashing its mighty body into Kikka and slamming him into the floor with another Thrash attack. Kikka lay in a crater, unmoving, while the Gyarados began flailing about in the throes of Confusion.

Red quickly recalled the Pidgeot and sent out K2. The Golem roared and curled into a ball. Its rollout attack struck the Gyarados just as it slammed its own head into the crater where Kikka once was. The combined damage was too much for the Atrocious Pokémon, and it fainted.

Blue fumed. "Grrr… No way! I can't believe this!" He recalled his Gyarados. "Hmm… I want to send Umbreon back out, but he's not back yet… Oh! Wait, there you are!"

Blue yelled in Lance's direction. "Hey! Umbreon! You're back up!"

The Umbreon barked, and vanished out of Lance's grasp. It re-appeared to strike at K2 with a Faint Attack, and K2 retaliated by smacking the Umbreon away with his rolling body. The Umbreon shrugged of the hit, and K2 sped up again. The two clashed again, but the Umbreon took much more damage from the Rollout this time around.

_That's right!_ thought Blue. _Rollout's damage doubles with each hit as the attacker gains speed…_ "Umbreon! Use Moonlight!" The crescent moon on the Umbreon's head shone brightly, as it gathered in light to heal itself. K2 took the opportunity to strike the Umbreon again, undoing all of that healing.

"Looks like I'm stuck! But I can break out, no problem! Umbreon, use Faint Attack again!"

The Umbreon barked in response and disappeared. It re-appeared and struck the Golem's side, only to watch K2 spin in place and run him over, seemingly unfazed. The somewhat-flattened and unconscious Umbreon was recalled by his trainer.

Blue yelled in frustration. Red cheered on K2, who had ceased spinning and returned to a normal fighting stance. The Golem roared in triumph.

"Grrr… I won't lose here! Not to you! Go, Alakazam!"

Blue sent out the Psychic-type Pokémon, and commanded it to use Psychic. Red had K2 counter with Earthquake. The two bruisers did massive damage to each other with those attacks – the wave of upheaved earth crushed the Alakazam, and the psychic energy blasted K2 into a wall. However, the Alakazam recovered first and quickly finished the Golem off with another Psychic.

Red recalled K2 and sent out Geselle. The Alakazam Recovered away some of the damage from the Earthquake, but the Espeon used Bite and negated that gain, knocking it out. Red cheered, as Blue recalled his Alakazam and sent out his second to last Pokémon – his Arcanine.

_This not how I saw this going… but I can't give up!_ "Arcanine, Flamethrower!"

"_We're so close… Let's finish this! Geselle, Psychic!_"

The Espeon gathered a mass of Psychic energy and launched it. The Arcanine quickly gathered flames in its mouth and belched them out in response. The two attacks collided and exploded, knocking both Pokémon back. The two quickly got up again and prepared another round, but Geselle was faster on the draw. This time, the Arcanine took all the damage of the explosion, and was completely knocked out.

Blue recalled the Arcanine and sent out his last Pokémon – his Pidgeot. Red responded by recalling Geselle and sending out Tesla, who knocked the bird out with one critically strong Thunderbolt. Blue recalled his Pidgeot, clenching his other hand in a fist. Tesla dashed over to Red's side, and Red picked him up and put him on his shoulder.

They had done it. "_Yes!_" cheered Red, fist in the air.

"NO!" Blue erupted. "How can this be!? How could you beat me at my best!? After all that work to become the Champion!? I've lost the title to you already! It's not fair at all!"

He started crying, and fell over, kneeling with both knees down. Red rushed over to his friend and rival, concerned. So did the Elite Four.

Blue continued, "It's not fair… Why did I lose? I never made any mistakes raising my Pokémon… so why!?"

"_Blue…_" Red didn't know what to say to him.

"There is one mistake you made, grandson." The group turned to see that it was Professor Oak who had just spoken. "You forgot about the bond of trust and unity that must be shared between Pokémon and trainer. Red understood that, and it allowed him to surpass you."

The old professor walked through the Elite Four, around Red, and picked up his grandson. While his expression was initially quite serious, he gave Blue a big grin after looking him directly in the eye. "But nothing is stopping you from forging those bonds except yourself! I think you're quite the trainer even as you are, and you could be even better! Who knows? Maybe you could become the Champion again!"

"…Yeah. You're right, Gramps!" Blue wiped his tears.

He turned and pointed to Red. "Red! As much as I hate to admit it, you're the new Indigo League Champion! But don't get lazy, or I'll knock you down again!"

Red nodded.

Prof. Oak and the Elite Four gave the two boys a round of applause – Blue for giving it his all, Red for triumphing. "Congratulations, Red!" announced Lance. "I hereby declare this Challenge session over, and our new Champion crowned! Now, I must be off! ….Is what I'd like to say, but I need to make sure this place gets repaired."

"I'll kick out the rest of the trainers out and talk to the media," said Lorelei. "I have to stay around here anyway. I have something to tell you in private once you're done." She walked out, followed by Bruno, who wanted to start training as soon as possible. Agatha also departed after congratulating Red and mocking Prof. Oak.

Lance waited until the rest of the Elite Four departed. "Shall we be off? The Hall of Fame waits."

Prof. Oak nodded. "Yes, let's go."

The two of them led Red into the archway at the back of what was once Blue's chamber. As for Blue himself, he departed the same way as the Elite Four, his confidence shaken…

…but not destroyed.


	18. Epilogue: Psychic - An End

Epilogue – Psychic: An End

The Hall of Fame holds the memories of fading glory. Yet, despite the prestige it contained, the chamber itself was a plain blue color. Gilded paintings of past and current Champions were hung on the walls. At the very back was a portrait of Blue, standing proud with his thumb pointing to his chest. Lance took it down from its spot and leaned it against the wall.

"I'll have to re-arrange the Champions later…" said the head of the Elite Four. "The current Champion always has to be directly across from the door. So Red will go here… Red, I assume you'll be heading home?"

Red nodded.

"Excellent! I'll have one of our artists meet you there. Now then…"

Lance gestured to a device that resembled a scanner.

"Red, place your Pokémon here. In their Poké Balls, of course. This'll record your team for the League officials. OK! And…" Lance pushed a button on the machine's control panel. A bright light shone from its top as it read data from the Poké Balls. "…Done!"

As Red took his Pokémon back, Prof. Oak remembered something. "Ah, yes! Red! Have you been using the PokéDex much at all? I saw Blue's earlier, and he had caught most of the Pokémon in our region. He's made quite a few helpful edits to our database in the course of training all those Pokémon, trying to make the perfect battle team."

Red shook his head. "_To be honest, I only ever caught 20 Pokémon._"

Prof. Oak frowned. "Red, you should go and catch some other species. You'll be doing not just me a huge favor, but your mother as well. There are all sorts of Pokémon wandering around Kanto, just waiting to be discovered!"

_Like Mewtwo and that alien…_ thought Red.

The old professor continued. "In any case, congratulations again on joining the Hall of Fame. You have endeavored hard to become the Indigo League Champion. You and our Pokémon will be honored here. Of course, you'll have to come back and entertain challengers, but that shouldn't be a problem for you. Now then… shall we go home?"

* * *

><p>As the three of them departed the Hall of Fame, Red noticed a portrait of Oak, and asked the old man about his time as a trainer. The old man's rambling tale lasted them all the way until they reached the lobby, devoid of everyone but the nursing staff, Lorelei, and some media people. As soon as they saw Red, the media ditched Lorelei and swarmed him and Oak.<p>

Lance slipped away to talk to Lorelei. She told him of her plans to resign and keep an eye on the alien, whom they had dubbed 'Deoxys' for now. She had convinced Mewtwo to help her out for now, but she expected it to abandon them in search for battle in short order.

"The alien appears to be docile. Even when Mewtwo attacks it, it doesn't attempt to defend itself," she reported. "It claims that it was created in order to study distant planets, but there's no telling what it will do with that knowledge."

"I see… I wish you would stay, but this is too strange to ignore. Keep us updated."

"I will. Thank you for understanding."

The two bowed slightly to each other. She departed, while he stayed behind to make some phone calls. He had some ideas for who could replace Lorelei, but needed the approval of his superiors first. This technically included Red, but Lance didn't expect the boy to care all that much about these political and bureaucratic aspects of the League.

By the time he was done, the media was still pestering Red, so he shooed them away.

"We're closing! Leave! You can get your exclusive interviews or whatever later! Dragonite, do some crowd-control!" The imperial dragon roared, the media's representatives fled, and Red and Prof. Oak departed behind for home.

* * *

><p>His mother gave him a big hug when he finally returned to Pallet Town, and told him all about what had transpired in the small town since his departure. Not much had changed in her life, except that there were ever more Pokémon to study thanks to him and Blue.<p>

Red had that painting done – not just of him, but of him with his six partners. The artist that the League sent – a young man named Tracey – drew a sketch-like portrait. Lance appeared after a few days at the League HQ to pick up the painting, and took it back to the Hall of Fame.

Red spent time among the Pokémon of the Oak Lab, and time passed with lazy days.

* * *

><p>A month passed before another member of the Elite Four showed up in Pallet Town, and this time it was the ex-member Lorelei. She was accompanied by the red-blue alien 'Deoxys', but not by Mewtwo.<p>

Red was immediately suspicious. The alien seemed peaceful, but the clone was not.

He saw the two of them levitate in from the south, headed directly to Oak's Lab. Quite a few of the residents stared at the flying duo, not knowing what to make of it. Red was among them for only a moment, and then hurried to follow them. He had been fishing in the waters south of Pallet Town. He saw them walk into the lab, and followed them in. The alien was engaged in a conversation with some of the scientists in the Lab, while Lorelei was talking to Professor Oak. Red walked over to the alien, while keeping an ear towards the former Elite and the Pokémon Professor.

"Now that it's finished analyzing the Sevii Islands, it wanted to know if there were more landmasses to explore. So I told it all about our world's geography, and I'm having it start with exploring Kanto. It's quite curious about Pokémon in particular… they don't appear to exist on whatever planet this creature is from. I told you about how it consumed Gideon, but it seems that it can siphon additional genetic material and incorporate it into its being. After taking some DNA from Mewtwo, the two got into a fight, and they were evenly matched in power once 'Deoxys' transformed."

"Hmm? It can transform now?" asked Professor Oak. Reversible transformations were so rare that there were but a few Pokémon that had them – most of them legendary.

"Indeed. It's in its Normal Forme now, but has three others. It seems to have created these forms after witnessing many Pokémon battles. It has an excellent understanding of our language as well due to absorbing Gideon's mind, and understands our customs well. If I had to guess, I'd say that it was sent to tell whoever made it whether or not the planet would be hospitable to them."

"I see. I have to hope that no one is following this 'Deoxys', though. So, what happened to Mewtwo? I did want to meet that clone. I'm quite curious about it, and about its mother Mew. I had always thought that Mew was just a myth!"

Lorelei paused. "…Well… it's… hard to explain. I honestly don't know how Mewtwo's mind works… but after I returned from the Indigo Plateau, it wanted to know what had happened. It wants to know all about strong Pokémon and trainers, you see. So, I told it about Red's victory over Blue…"

"…_and Mewtwo was furious, right?_" interrupted Red. "_About the fact that I'm getting stronger, and it was stuck watching you and Deoxys._"

Lorelei nodded. "The clone was made to be a bloodthirsty creature, and still acts in that manner. It went into a rant about how it was all unfair, and then left to go find someone strong and willing to fight it. However, I haven't heard anything in the news about the clone for some time, so I thought it might have gone to Mt. Silver. There, it could train in solitude among the Ursaring and other strong Pokemon."

Deoxys continued, in a voice much like Lorelei's but with a monotone, "However, I encountered a story in one of your newspapers about two powerful trainers recovering from injuries at Cerulean City, two trainers that Lorelei knew – Bruno and Blue."

The alien went on while the rest of the room (except Lorelei) revealed deep surprise. "They reported encountering a creature matching Mewtwo's description in the Cerulean Cave. It wiped out Bruno completely, and then dealt with Blue and his team. Well, except for his Umbreon; it dragged Blue out of the cavern. Mewtwo apparently dropped Bruno off at the Pokémon Center himself, and then issued a challenge for all strong trainers to come challenge it, especially a certain young Champion. It then went back into the cave."

Red frowned, annoyed. "_Mewtwo must want to prove itself to be the strongest. I should go fight him… we're the ones Mewtwo truly wants to defeat,_" he said referring to himself and his partners.

Lorelei countered, "But why should we play into Mewtwo's hand? It's not as if the clone is terrorizing the city or anything like that. It's just having a temper tantrum."

Prof. Oak, however, countered that the clone might start doing just that if Red never showed up. Red added that Team Rocket might take this as an excuse to reform and control the city. With such a powerful Pokémon by their side, it's not as if most trainers would be able to stand against them.

With those concerns in mind, Red, Prof. Oak, Lorelei and Deoxys departed for Cerulean City.

* * *

><p>Coincidentally, Dr. Sakaki happened to be in Cerulean City, although not due to his ambitions. He witnessed his creation's sudden appearance, and was very glad that he talked his fellow Rocket scientists out of giving it the ability to read minds. The last thing he needed was his cover blown now that Team Rocket was dormant.<p>

At least it was good to know that his plan would have worked, if not for those meddling kids. Perhaps the clone might join him for his new plan… ah, but he was some ways away from even being able to initiate it. Best not to think about it for now.

Although he was no longer a Gym Leader, he felt obligated to keep up appearances and assured the media that the creature (he couldn't reveal that he knew about Mewtwo) would be dealt with. He didn't how that would be done, however, until the boy appeared, flying in from the south. Red had some company, but the doctor hardly cared about them. Dr. Sakaki gestured to them and said that everything would be alright; the other boy prodigy would handle this. The media people left him alone, and followed the flying party to the Cerulean Cave as closely as they dared.

Now that the matter was taken care of, he could depart, and did so unnoticed by all except one.

_Wonder what that doctor's up to…?_ thought Misty. _Oh well, I doubt it's that important._

* * *

><p>The party of four was gently set down by the entrance to the Cerulean Cave by Deoxys. The cave itself was separated from Cerulean City proper by a sea inlet. It was connected to the same mountain chain that included Mt. Moon, and was carved out of an unnamed, smaller rock. The maze-like tunnels inside the cave connected it to those mountains, forming one continuous system – if one knew which paths to take.<p>

Red entered alone into the dimly-lit cavern. As soon as he entered, he encountered a sign directing people to Mewtwo carved into the rock. At least, that's what he assumed; all it said was 'THIS WAY →". He followed the signs across the cavernous first floor and through the treacherous tunnels of the second floor. He expected there to be many wild Pokémon living in the cave, and there were… but many of them were unconscious, barely clinging to life. The rest were too frightened to approach him.

Red frowned. Is this why Mewtwo was made – to blindly destroy and terrorize?

He continued following the signs until he was led to a rope ladder that led down instead of up, and took it down into the basement. Mewtwo's hostile presence had infiltrated the air, and might have suffocated him with terror if he hadn't felt it before. When he entered the basement, he could feel Mewtwo's presence directly through the wall in front of him. But having no way to break the thick rock, he was forced to go the long way around in order to confront the clone.

* * *

><p>Mewtwo sat cross-legged, clearly attempting to meditate, but unable to do so due to its wrath. As soon as it noticed Red's presence, it opened its eyes, rose up and levitated above the center of the large underground lake. It saw Red running towards it, and chuckled gleefully, happy that its crude plan worked. There was only one thing left to do now, it thought, and so it gathered up a mass of psychic power and launched it at Red.<p>

Red, not expecting such a move, barely dodged it, diving off the small rectangular plateau he had just climbed on. "_Hey!_" he yelled in shock. "_You almost hit me with that!_"

"_It would serve you right!_" yelled the clone back in response. "_After all the ways that you've humiliated me!_" The indignant Mewtwo hovered down to Red's level, while Red stood back up.

"_Now that your little distraction is out of the way, we can finally have a proper match! I'll show you that no one can defeat me!_" The clone got into a battle stance, while Red… did nothing.

"_Mewtwo… is this all you're interested in? Suppose you beat me… then what?_" he asked.

Mewtwo responded. "_Then I will continue my path, and defeat all Pokémon trainers! I was born the strongest Pokémon, and will surpass all others! There is nothing else for me. Now fight!_"

Red sighed, and asked some more questions. "_But what comes after? Then what will you do?_"

Mewtwo didn't answer. Red supposed he wasn't going to ever get an answer without a fight, and brought out Kikka. The Pidgeot also loved battle, and probably understood Mewtwo better than he did. The bird squawked out its acceptance of Mewtwo's challenge, and flew up to prepare its Fly attack. Mewtwo clipped it with a Psychic attack, but the bird was able to take one. It slammed head first into the clone, dealing a decent amount of damage… but not enough. The clone swiftly dispatched it with another Psychic attack. It then healed away the damage with Recover after Red brought out K2 and commanded the Golem to use Earthquake.

The Golem promptly began reshaping the cavern, launching rocks at the clone by shaking the Earth itself. Those outside could feel the tremors, and they knew that the battle had begun.

The clone gracefully dodged the flying rocks, and noticed that the Golem was moving around, Digging into a wall. Mewtwo launched an attack at the Golem, but it slipped into the rocks just before the Psychic attack reached it. Another Earthquake resounded, and the clone resumed its dance.

At least, until K2 dropped down from the ceiling and pressed Mewtwo into the ground. Before the clone could react, K2 shook the earth once more, compressing the clone between itself and the basement's floor. The Golem roared, taunting Mewtwo, asking if this was all that it could muster.

"_Y-You…! I'll show you!_" muttered the clone angrily. "_TAKE THIS!_" Mewtwo yelled, exploding with psychic power. K2 was blasted away somewhere, and Red took cover behind a stalagmite for safety. As the dust settled down, Red peaked his head out and saw the damaged clone levitating once more, panting. Blood and dust covered its body. K2 was gone.

The ground shook, and K2 emerged, lunging at Mewtwo. But the clone, learning from last time, put up a Barrier. The blue screen absorbed most of the blow, allowing Mewtwo to blast K2 away with another Psychic. This time, the Megaton Pokémon didn't get back up.

Red recalled K2 and sent out Silph. Mewtwo recovered away most of the damage that K2 dealt, only to have some of it put back on by on the Lapras' Hydro Pump. The strong water stream knocked the clone into a wall and held him there, until he began resisting it using Psychic.

"_Silph, switch to Ice Beam!_"

The Lapras cooed and fired the freezing beam at the clone. The Mewtwo traded the ice Beam for a Psychic, and they continued this until Silph fainted. Red recalled Silph, and sent out Geselle. As Geselle lunged at the clone to Bite it, Mewtwo healed away its some of its damage.

_Mewtwo is just going to keep healing itself unless we can make it run out its ability to heal! Geselle can also heal using Morning Sun… hopefully this works!_

Mewtwo, realizing that it would exhaust its ability to use Psychic if it kept throwing out that attack, switched to using Swift. Geselle, using the terrain, kept rocks and such between her and the flying stars as much as possible. If Mewtwo was going to play keep away, then so could she! She launched Psychic attacks at the clone that Mewtwo took head on rather than counter with its own Psychic power. The two of them slowly wore each other out, recovering damage when necessary using their respective healing moves.

Finally, Geselle ran herself out of power to use Psychic and was forced to rush and Bite Mewtwo. The clone then amassed many Swift stars and knocked her out with a massive barrage once she drew near. Red recalled her, thanking her for her hard work, and sent out Tesla.

But her sacrifice meant nothing, as Mewtwo swiftly knocked the Pikachu away with a psychic blast before Red could give a command. The same happened to Rei once he brought her out. The two lay unconscious near each other, and Red recalled them both.

There was a pause.

"_Well?_" asked Mewtwo. "_Send out your next Pokémon! I'm not done yet!_"

Red shrugged. "_I don't have any more Pokémon on me. Pokémon trainers can only have up to six Pokémon at once. League regulations. Looks like you win._"

There was another pause.

"_Wait… that's it? I've won?_" asked the clone.

Red nodded.

"_But… but that can't be! You're supposed to be the strongest trainer! It shouldn't be this easy! This isn't satisfying at all! No! I won't accept this!_" The clone sat down with its arms crossed, pouting. "_Go ahead and get more Pokémon. I can wait._" The clone said that, but its tail was twitching violently. It craved for more battle, and soon.

"_Mewtwo, my partners threw all they had at you, and that's still not enough? It takes time to raise Pokémon, you know. You might laugh at us for being weaker than you, but I think that we have something more important – our friendship with each other. I couldn't let anyone else fight you in good conscience; you'd just wipe the floor with them,_" said Red, "_Honestly, that's one of the reasons we were able to get this far in the first place!_"

Mewtwo, appropriately enough, laughed. "_Ha! Friendship? All that matters is power! And with my power, I've stomped you flat! You're nothing to me! My father was right! With my power, we could easily control this country!_" The clone frowned. "_But you're all a bunch of weaklings. I'm not interested in being around weak fools. You've nothing to offer me. Hmph!_"

The clone hovered up. It was having conflicting feelings about its victory, something that it wasn't expecting, and needed to go somewhere else. It could faintly sense the alien outside the cave… it would make for a good adversary, if a hesitant one. It gathered power and hovered up to the ceiling.

A strong presence suddenly appeared in the cavern above them, and Mewtwo paused instantly. The ceiling broke above it, shattered by a glowing figure in the shape of a god-bird. Mewtwo dodged the glowing being, only to be struck by a large ball of electricity. The clone was blasted into a wall and electrocuted. Paralyzed, it remained immobile in the crater that it formed when embedded into the wall.

"_Sorry about that,_" echoed a soft voice throughout the cavern, "_but it seems like violence is all that you respond to. I had hoped that my child would be raised better, but I guess you weren't. I blame Giovanni for this._" A creature resembling a miniature version of Mewtwo descended from the hole in the ceiling, bathed in light from outside the Cerulean Cave. It was light-pink in color and had wide blue eyes. "_That man can't even raise his own son right, let alone someone else's… I suppose this is what I get for leaving you with criminals._"

Red and Mewtwo blinked. They were too surprised to speak.

"_What? Cat got your tongue?_" The creature laughed at its own joke. "_But, in all seriousness, I am very concerned about your bad behavior, Mewtwo._"

"_How… do you… know me?_" asked the paralyzed clone. This newcomer was clearly strong, and Mewtwo wanted to defeat it. _If only I could move!_

"_I gave birth to you! I'm Mew! Nice to meet ya!_" The Pokémon known as Mew teleported in front of Mewtwo and shook the clone's paralyzed hand. "_There's so much I want to tell you about this marvelous world you've been born into!_"

Mewtwo jerked its hand away. "_Not interested… fight me…_" The clone slowly peeled itself out of the wall.

The Mew pouted. "_Oh come on! Aren't you the least bit interested in hearing what I have to say? I promise that it'll be interesting!_"

"_NO!_" yelled the clone. "_I only want… to fight! Everything else… is a distraction!_"

The Mew sighed, said that was fine, and promptly blasted Mewtwo back into the wall with a pitch-black aura pulse. The sheer power of the attack, due to the Psychic-type's weakness to Dark-type moves, knocked Mewtwo out. Mew gathered its wayward child and flew down to Red. The Mew apologized for Mewtwo's actions, and said that it would take the clone over to Mt. Silver so that it wouldn't bother people anymore. Hopefully, it could teach the clone not to be so destructive… In any case, Red was welcome to stop by anytime he wanted.

Mew teleported itself and its clone-child away. A stunned Red departed the Cerulean Cave alone.

* * *

><p>He rejoined Lorelei, Deoxys and the Professor outside the cave. Their group, now joined by Misty, had witnessed the Mew suddenly appear and smash its way through the ceiling of the Cerulean Cave. Red told them all about what had happened – encountering Mewtwo, being defeated, and Mew appearing and taking the clone away.<p>

"Remarkable!" exclaimed Prof. Oak. "I never once thought that Mew would also appear! And the two of them are at Mt. Silver, eh? I suppose you're going to mountain-climbing now, right?"

Red nodded.

"Very well then. But I'll go with you, this time. These mountains might be dangerous, but I know my way around them. I'm sure your mother won't mind if I'm there, hahaha! I'll make sure to send you off to the Indigo Plateau when it's that time. Now then, let's go back home! I have things to prepare…"

Misty, reassured that her city wasn't under attack, went back to tell Blue and Bruno about this strange event. The rest of them returned to Pallet Town. Prof. Oak and Red would later depart for Mt. Silver, while Lorelei accompanied Deoxys on its journey for knowledge…

…but those are tales for another time.


End file.
